Bullets and Butterflies
by Alucard's little sister
Summary: A father and daughter stay in London as it falls apart. Everything the group has done has been planed. But what happens when something strange happens...
1. The KV virus strikes London

Alucard's little sister: Disclaimer, I don't own _I am Legend_. Ok, this isn't a Hellsing story. It's based on _I am Legend_ (the movie). The place is different and the people and animals are different as well. (I'm not sure if a London flat has a basement but it sounds cool).

Editor Cain: After all this time and you're going to start another story. What about the others?

Alucard's little sister: Uh, they weren't working out the way I planned...One more thing. (Something books say in the beginning) _**This is a work of Fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this story are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental**__._ Thank you.

The KV virus strikes London

**Prologue**

"Get Ichigo and lets go," shouted a man. He grabbed his helmet and put it on. He looked around the entryway. Slowly, he grabbed his Magnum. With a shaky hand, he loaded it. He looked up the stairs. "Come on now!"

His twelve-year old daughter came running down the stairs, a yellow lab puppy in her hands. "Where are we going, Dad?"

Someone started to bang the basement door as the sun left the sky completely.

He put a helmet and goggles on her head. "Wait for me in the side car," he said. Panic was starting to set into his voice. "And don't move until I get there. Don't follow the crowd to the docks whatever you do!"

"But what about mother? Isn't she coming too," she asked.

"Just do as I say! Get going!"

She clung to Ichigo tightly and left the Flat into the chaos of the streets.

He turned around and faced the basement door. He gripped his gun tightly. Sweat ran down his face. His heart was in his throat as the door began to break. _God damn virus_, he thought.

The door broke. His infected wife fell into the hallway. It no longer looked like her. Her skin was pale. Her veins were visible. Her long brown hair was gone and her eyes were red. She turned and faced him, breathing fast, teeth bared.

_She's gone_, he thought.

She lunged toward him.

He cocked the gun and pointed it at her. A tear ran down his cheek. "Sorry," he said. He pulled the trigger and shot it in the head.

"Dad," shouted his daughter when he left the house. "Where's Mom?"

He put his gun in his pocket. "She's...not coming," he said watching the mass of people. He got on the motorcycle and turned it on. "Now let's go." He turned the bike against the flow of the crowd.

"What are you doing Dad?! The boats are the other way!"

"There's no hope that way," he said putting his goggles over his eyes. "It only leads to a bloody massacre."

They drove though the crowd and into the heart of London.

**Bullets and Butterflies**

**Three years later**

"_To anyone still out there: my name is Paul Artman. I am sending this broadcast though out the London radio system. I was an electrician for the London Electric Company. If you are still human and can hear this I will be at Winchester pub when the sun is at its peak. Do not give up, you are not alone."_

"Whoa, slow down, Ichi," cried the fifteen-year old girl. She was on a skateboard being dragged by a three-year old yellow lab. Her helmet covered her hair and her goggles were over her blue eyes. "Slow down or we'll miss the pub!"

Ichigo stopped in front of the door to the pub.

She fell onto the pavement. "Ow." She rubbed her nose. She unlocked the door and looked around.

Most of the pub was a wreck. Chairs were thrown in the corner of the room. The curtains were moth-hole ridden. Dust had settled on the bar. There was only one TV that wasn't broken. It was sitting on top of a table next to a DVD player. Sitting below the table was a generator.

Ichigo jumped onto the booth seat. He barked for her to join him.

"Hang on," she said. She walked over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of vodka. "Look! I'm under age!" She opened it and drank some. "Wow. I'll save that for later." She put the bottle cap back on and put the bottle away. She turned to Ichigo. "Well, it's just you and me, and this three and half hour movie."

Ichigo barked and waged his tail.

Half-way into the movie her digital watch went off.

Ichigo, chewing on a chair leg, looked up and barked.

"Yep, it looks like no one will show up again," she said. "Oh, well, let's go back before the sun sets."

He suddenly started barking at the door. Tail wagging wildly. He ran over to her and continued barking.

"What is it? Are they out already?"

That's when a man ran into the pub. His black hair was long and unkempt. He looked about 20 years old. His lab coat was covered in dark blood stains. His shirt and pants were torn and muddy. "Am...I...too...late," he asked hoarsely between breaths.

"Nope, you just made it." She walked over to him. "So tell me, what's your name?"

He jumped a little. "My name, right," he said. "My name is...my name..." he paused and stared at her. "Uh." He started patting his pants for something. He pulled his wallet out. "Yes, there it is. Uh," he looked at his driver's licence. "My name is...John Silivo. That's right. I was an intern at the London Medical Hospital. From the-the radio I thought you were a little older."

She laughed. "You haven't talked to many people for a while have you? First, I'm a girl. The man on the radio is my father. He's Paul. I'm Leona Artman." She held out her hand. "And it's nice to meet you, John."

Slowly he reached out and shook her hand. "I'm just really happy to see another human."

"Well, come on," she said grabbing his arm. "We have to get to the base before they come out."

"Where is this base?"

"It's a Duplex just a few buildings away."


	2. New member arrives

Alucard's little sister: Disclaimer, I don't own Oomph! (German band) and see first chapter

Editor Cain: just finish the story this time.

New member arrives

On 13 Williams Street was a small duplex that was once just a house. It had two floors and a half-finished basement. The master bedroom on the second floor was turned into a kitchen and a walk-in closet was turned into a bathroom. It was one of very few houses that were still standing along the street.

A bright, blue light flooded the duplex. In the basement, Paul Artman sat on a rubber mat. He was wearing a fireman's fire suit and welder's glasses. His rubber gloves holding on to two wires. "Ok, that didn't work," he said. "Let's try another wire set up." He connected two more wires together. He shut his eyes tight and connected more wires.

"Gott ist ein Popstar," shouted the iPod upstairs making Paul jump.

He dropped the wires. "It worked," he said taking the glasses off. "Now, we don't have to worry so much about those generators. We got power from the grid." He slowly got up. "Now, I just have to rig the power plant like the generators." Slowly, he walked up the stairs. The first thing he noticed was the sun setting. "Damn girl," he said turning the iPod off. "What's taking her so long?" The alarms went off. "Yea, yea, I'm getting to that!" He shut a metal shutter over a window. "Goddamn it," he growled grabbing his leg. "It fell asleep!"

The front door opened. Ichigo bounded in and sat next to Paul. Leona soon followed. "I'm back."

"You're late," he snapped. "Now bolt the door!" He noticed John.

"I found someone," she said. "He's a doctor."

"Actually, I'm just an intern."

"Good enough. Now help with the windows!"

Leona put the metal bar down on the door and pulled a metal shutter down. "Come on, we'll get the upstairs windows." She grabbed John's arm and ran up the stairs.

He chuckled. "I never thought anyone would show up." He shut the kitchen shutters. "Hey, Leo! Turn the traps on in the basement for me," he shouted.

"The upstairs windows are set," she said running down into the basement.

John watched him nervously. "Uh, what do you want me to do," he asked.

Paul pulled a magnum from his jeans. "You get that urge to touch my daughter," he loaded the gun. "And I will not hesitate in putting a bullet in your head, got it?"

John put his hand in the air and slowly nodded.

"Good," he put the gun away. He ran his hand though his brown hair. "By the way, what is your name?"

"It's John Silivo," he said without looking at his wallet.

"Well, John, just sit in the kitchen. Dinner will soon be served."

 **Instant Ramen Just pull tab ******

"This is dinner," asked John staring at the container of Ramen.

"That's it, unless you want to eat dog food with Ichigo," said Paul.

"Or cat food with Momo," said Leona.

"No, that's ok." He pulled the tab and opened the lid.

"So, tell us, John, where have you been staying all this time," asked Leona. "From your smell I'd have to say somewhere with no water."

"There was water just only enough to drink. I was on the top floor of some hotel. There was no power and the only water was on the first floor. Today, I found a radio with a battery in it and that's when I heard your broadcast," explained John. "So I ran to the pub as fast as I could."

"Did you go to the docks," asked Paul, "On the night of the quarantine?"

John stiffened. "Yeah, I was there. And, I don't want to talk about it again. What about you two?"

"Nah, we went here during the quarantine. This was my mother's house and she left it to me. We've been here since."

John finished the spoonful of Ramen in his mouth. "This is probably going sound rude but why did you start the radio broadcast?"

"Well, we figured that if we find more people we can afford a group rate for the ferry," he said sarcastically.

"Huh? But I thought everything fell apart when the virus attacked."

Paul and Leona looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"What? What did I say," cried John.

"You really haven't been near people in a while have you," said Paul. "I was being sarcastic."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, Leona why don't you show our new member his room."

"Ok," She grabbed his arm and dragged him upstairs. She brought him into a large room.

Most of the things were still there from when the room was a kitchen. The tile flooring, the stove and the refrigerator. Lines were all that were left of the cabinets. The bed was next to the stove.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping in a kitchen. Oh, and the walk-in closet is a bathroom."

"That's fine. I use to sleep in the kitchen of my apartment." He followed her back down the stairs. "What are you going to do now?"

"Oh, Dad and I usually play a game."

Outside the sun fell from the sky and night took over.

"Here it comes," said Paul.

The air raid siren went off.

John's heart began to beat faster. _Oh, god, here they come_, he thought.

The monsters began to prowl the streets. Their growls and screams could be heard in the duplex.

"Don't worry," said Paul grabbing a pack of cards and shuffling them. "They can't get us in here."

One of them screamed in pain and the others jumped on it.

"What's that," cried John.

"Oh, just them killing each other. They do from time to time," said Leona.

Sweat ran down John's face then everything went black.


	3. Quarantine

Alucard's little sister: See last chapter, and I don't own Pontiac or Ford. And, from now on, the chapters will be longer. Oh, and I forgot to mention in the last chapter I don't own Apple Inc. or the electronic devices that play iPods.

Editor Cain: Sad. Very sad.

Quarantine

"Come on," said John tying his shoes. "There's no time. We have to get to the docks before all the boats leave. Please, April."

April left the bathroom. She straightened her black skirt. "Are you sure about this? I mean what if those things attack us at the dock."

He grabbed her arm. "We'll be long gone before that happens," he said. "Now, let's go. He dragged her down the stairs and outside into the panicking crowd.

She griped his arm tightly. "I don't like this John," she said.

"Come on and hold on tight," he said. "Don't worry. We'll make it.

They slowly walked through the crowd. As they walked John noticed a motorcycle with a sidecar going in the opposite direction.

April watched as it drove by them. "Where are they going? Is that person crazy? They could die if they go that way," she said. "And, what about that girl and the dog. How can they risk their lives?"

"I'm sure they probably know what their doing," said John angrily. "Besides its their problem not ours."

"That's how this whole problem started," snapped April. "Oh, it's just in the United States. It won't reach us here!" Tears were running down her face. "My parents are dead because of that idea! Not to mention the fact my brother is out there fighting them!"

"April?!"

She whipped the tears from her eyes with her free hand. "Let's just get to the docks," she said. "I don't want to be here anymore."

The dock was crowed. It was controlled by the British military and the US military. They scanned people for the virus.

John and April wormed their way to the front of the crowd.

A military officer stopped them. "There's only enough room on the boat for one more person," he said.

John looked over at the chaos then at April. He pushed her to the officer. "Take her," he said.

"John, No," she cried.

The officer scanned her eyes. "She's clear," he said. "Put her on the boat."

"John," she cried as another officer dragged her to the boat. "I can't go without you!"

"We'll see each other soon," shouted John. "I love you."

She shouted back but by then he couldn't hear her.

He walked away. Back into the crowd.

The crowd started screaming as the air raid siren went off. The Darkseekers were coming.

John ran though the crowd. He found a slightly open manhole cover. He pulled it open. When he climbed down the ladder, he covered the hole again.

The Darkseekers attacked the crowd. Deafening gun fire echoed in the sewer. Darkseeker and Human blood dripped into the holes in the manhole cover. It fell on his head and over his shoulders.

John shuttered and continued down the ladder. He jumped down into the sewer and walked down the pipeline. Mice and rats ran past by him. He stopped at a fork in the line. He turned to the other pipe.

There was a Darkseeker there. It growled and pounced on him.

John woke with a start. Sweat ran down his face. His heart was beating fast. "It was just a dream," he said. _There was no darkseeker in the sewer. It was just me and the rats_, he thought. He looked around and realized he was in a kitchen. He was in his apartment. He was sleeping on a cot in his kitchen!

The light in the bathroom was on. The sun was leaking through the blinds.

He got off the bed and walked toward the bathroom. He could hear the shower running. He slowly opened the door.

There on the floor he saw April. Her blonde hair pulled back behind her ears. She was wearing her work uniform.

For some reason, he couldn't believe his eyes. Were the last three years were a lie? Some kind of dream? "April?"

She turned and became Leona. She was washing Ichigo. Her red hair was pulled back behind her ears. She wasn't wearing her helmet and she had her goggles around her eyes. "April," said Leona. "Who's April?"

"Uh, just some one I know," he said nervously. "I'm going to go now."

"I'll let you know when I'm done with Ichigo so you can take a shower," she called out as he left the room.

He walked down the stairs into the living room. He rubbed his eyes. _What could have happened to her_, he thought, _is she ok? Oh, April._

"I have oatmeal ready for you," said Paul making John jumped. Paul walked over from the kitchen. "Hey, you're up. Not to sound like your parents but have you brushed your teeth?" He pointed at the bathroom. "You can use that bathroom. There's a tooth brush that hasn't been used yet."

John walked into the bathroom. He used the tooth brush and stared at his reflection. _I look like a freackin' hobo_, he thought. He spit. Those days in the hotel didn't help.

Paul leaned up against the door frame. "Nightmare," he said.

"What," said John turning to face him.

"Did you have a nightmare," Paul asked. "You were twitching as we brought you upstairs. After you passed out."

John sighed. "Just of the night of the Quarantine," he said. "Was it wrong to put my girlfriend on that boat heading to Finland?"

"Everyone has that kind of dream now. Or at lest I do. I don't know how many people are left, but I'm betting they have those kinds of dreams."

"Oh, really. Then what haunts you?"

"Why don't you take a shower. I'll get you some clothes that don't have blood on it." Paul walked away.

_He just avoided my question_, he thought. He shaved as Paul came back with new clothes and a towel.

"Don't worry about hot water," Paul said. He dropped the clothes on the floor. "We have enough water to bathe the Navy and the Army." He closed the door.

Ichigo came running down the stairs. He ran into the living room, grabbed his squeaky ball and started chewing it.

Momo, an orange stripped cat, was sitting on the couch. Waiting for the sun to attack her fur. She opened her eyes, looked over at Ichigo then went back to her nap.

"What time is it," asked Leona as she ran down the stairs.

"It's 7:30," said Paul. "You remember what the plan is for today."

"Uh, no," said Leona. "I forgot. Sorry."

Paul rolled his eyes. "Alright, this is the plan," he said. "I am going out in the Electric Vibe and getting special supplies and others things then going to the pub at noon. And, you will be driving the 1978 Ford Station Wagon." He held out the keys for the Ford.

"What," cried Leona. "Why can't I have the Vibe. I hate the Station Wagon!"

He pointed an angry finger at her. "No, you get the Station Wagon. It's far bigger for your job! Besides you're not a good driver and I don't care if you destroy the Wagon, just don't touch the Vibe."

Leona sighed and grabbed the keys. "Fine, but, you're taking Ichigo with you and going to the bar at noon."

He shrugged. "That's fine," he said. "Come on Ichigo."

Ichigo sat up. He wagged his tail happily and ran after him. He jumped in the passenger seat of the Vibe.

Paul started the car and drove off.


	4. Paul's Mission

Alucard's little sister: See last chapter and I don't own Everclear. It seems this story will be updated randomly. And, yes, the weapon used is like the one in _No Country For Old Men_ (which I don't own either).

Editor Cain: That's great.

Paul's Mission

John never realized how dirty he was or how much he missed taking a shower. After the shower, he put on the clothes.

John noticed that Paul was gone. "Where's your father," he asked. "And where's Ichigo, your dog?"

"Oh, they left already," she said. "They went to get some food and supplies," she said. "And we'll be going to the Hospital to get some medical supplies."

John was a bit confused. "Well, were did he go?"

Paul zoomed down the streets at 136.79kpm.

Ichigo had his head out the window; ears flapping in the wind and tail wagging.

The iPod was playing a song. Paul was singing along:

_ With my big black boots and an old suitcase_

_I do believe I'll find myself a new place_

_I don't want to be the bad guy_

_I don't want to do your sleepwalk dance anymore_

_I just want to see some palm trees_

_Go and try and shake away this disease_

_We can live beside the ocean_

_Leave the fire behind_

_Swim out past the breakers_

_Watch the world die_

_I am still dreaming of your face_

_Hungry and hollow for all the things you took away_

He rounded the corner past a tank to the edge of London. "We're almost there," he told Ichigo. "It's about 9:30am, we have a few hours before we have to go to the Pub."

Ichigo barked.

They turned past a tank into a large military base. The base was built to defend London. The plan failed and the base was abandoned.

He parked the car next to a large garage used for tanks. "We haven't been in this one yet." He let Ichigo out. He opened the trunk and grabbed a tank of compressed air with a hose and rod connected to it. He walked past the garage doors to the security door next to it.

He placed the rod on the dead bolt lock. He fired it. The lock went flying across the garage. It impacted the far wall and echoed.

Ichigo followed Paul in. With nose and ears twitching, he carefully walked in ahead. Ever alert for the Darkseekers.

He put the tank on his shoulder with the help of a strap and held the rod with his right hand. "If we're lucky those things will think it was just a rat pulling a bolt out to move more freely. If not…well, let's just say it will be one hell of a day," he said. "Stay close. Don't wander off." He walked farther into the garage. _Damn shoes,_ he thought. He took them off and tied them to his belt. He continued deeper into the building. Walking past large, dust-covered tanks. His left hand gripping tightly to a stun grenade.

Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. He could see the beams holding the building up, tables covered with dusty tools, tank ammunition in a pyramid forms on the floor, and dead bodies of soldiers were scattered throughout the building.

Ichigo's ears perked up. He became rigid, sniffing the air and the floor. Eyes darting back and forth. His tail dropped between his legs. Quietly, he pressed himself against Paul's legs as if to stop him.

Paul went down on one knee and rubbed Ichigo's ears. "Scout," he whispered.

Ichigo let out a small whine.

"I see, go back into the sun," he whispered. "Walk slowly, make as little noise as possible." He stood up and hid behind the nearest tank. Watching Ichigo slowly walk back, he untied his Reebok shoes from his belt. When Ichigo was gone, he lifted his shoes above his head. He sent them down hard.

The echo of the shoes spread throughout the garage. Slowly, it died away. When it died completely, the sound of Army boots rang out. The scout was on its way.

Paul put the grenade down. He left his shoes next to the front of the tank. He gripped the rod tightly and waited for the Darkseeker to take the bait.

He heard it getting closer. His heart leaped into his throat. _Just a little closer. Show no fear_, he thought.

The Darkseeker was now in sight. It was about twenty. It was wearing a military uniform without the helmet. It reached down and picked up one of Paul's shoes. It examined the shoe then smelled the inside of it. It was only a foot away from Paul.

That was what Paul was waiting for. He released more air. Put the rod to its head. He pulled the trigger.

Before it could figure out what was going on the metal rod went through its head. It dropped the shoe. It fell to the ground with an echoless thud. Blood slowly oozed from its head.

_I have to hurry. The blood would have woke them up,_ he thought. He left his shoes behind and headed to the back of the garage. He found what he was looking for. Against the wall was a cart carrying a dozen shotgun boxes and two cases of grenades. He grabbed the handle of the cart and headed out.

Ichigo was rolling around in the grass. He saw Paul and ran over, tail wagging.

"Good boy, Ichigo," he said rubbing his head. He opened the trunk. He pulled out a medium sized board. Using it as a ramp, Paul put the cart in the car and shut the trunk.

That's when he noticed something was missing. He left his shoes and the Stun Grenade behind. He looked over at Ichigo. "Stay here, guard the car."

Ichigo wagged his tail and barked.

He ran back in. He went to the dead body of the Darkseeker. He passed the body and picked up the Stun Grenade. He walked to the end of the building, walking past his shoes without realizing it.

Looking around, he picked up a few rouge shotgun shells. He scratched his head. "Where are those damn shoes. Ah, to hell with it."

He headed back to the entrance. He stopped dead. "Shit."

Holding on to his shoes was another Darkseeker. It smelled one. Looked down at its fallen fellow. It turned to find Paul. It screamed and threw the shoes aside.

Caught. Paul took a deep breath. He continued walking. Heading toward his shoes.

More Darkseekers arrived. They were thrown off by Paul's stance. The creatures formed a circle around him. Unsure whether or not to attack him. They waited for an opportunity to jump on him.

Calmly, he judged how far he was to escaping. He put the pin of the Stun Grenade between his teeth. _Must be dramatic_, he thought. He shut and covered his eyes then slammed the grenade into the ground.

With the creatures stunned, he ran. He picked up his shoes as he ran. To add to the dramatics, he jumped out of the door and rolled.

Ichigo ran over to him. Tail wagging, he started licking Paul's face. Turning dirt unto mud.

"Ok, that's enough, Ichigo," said Paul pulling Ichigo away. "That was Action Movie style. I bet I won today like I won yesterday." He sat up and brushed himself off. "Well, time to go to the grid."

The London Electric company building was at the edge of the city. The Darkseekers attacked the building and knocked out the power.

It took two years to take back the building. To keep the Darkseekers from attacking and shutting the power off, Paul set up traps.

He pulled into the parking lot and looked at the clock. "Damn, it's 11. Don't have enough time to put the grenade up."

Ichigo jumped out of the car. He ran in a circle, then headed toward the grass around the building.

"HALT," snapped Paul. "Ichigo come here! If you must pee, do it on the lamp post!" He watched Ichigo trot over to a lamp post. "How many times must I remind you. Not on the grass! There are landmines in there!"

Paul took out the cart. Leaving the bullets in the car, he took the grenades into the building. He put the grenades by the Grid Computer. "I think the rest of the day will be slow."

At 6pm, Paul and Ichigo left the pub and headed home. When they arrived at home, the wagon was in the driveway.

The old Ford had a mattress and box spring tied to its roof. The passenger side door left open.

Paul walked over to the Ford. _Something not right_, he thought. He walked over to the passenger side. On the floor of the passenger side there was a puddle of blood. He quickly pulled the mat out of the car.

Ichigo sniffed it. He looked up at Paul and whined.

"I know, this isn't good." He slammed the car door. With Ichigo behind him, he headed for the duplex. With his heart pounding in his head, he opened the door.


	5. John & Leona's Mission

Alucard's little sister: See last chapter. Also this Chapter is happening at the same time as the last chapter, then continues were the last chapter left off. Which means it's going to be very long.

Editor Cain: Oh, gosh! How could you end a chapter like that?

John & Leona's Mission

"So, are you ready to go," asked Leona. She grabbed a pair of keys off the counter.

John grabbed a rubber band and tied his hair back into a ponytail. He picked up his blood stained coat and put it back on. "I guess so, but how are we going to get there."

"Come on." She grabbed his arm.

He followed her outside to the garage.

She opened the door to an old Ford station wagon. It was covered with rust spots, it's muffler was kept up by a piece of wood and several strips of duct tape. Next to it, on its right, was a black Moped. On the left, were a mattress, a box spring, a cooler and a suitcase.

"We're not driving that thing are we," cried John.

"Yes, unless you want to be smushed with me on the Moped." She unlocked the trunk and opened it. She grabbed the cooler. "Don't just stand there get the suitcase."

"Oh, right." He ran over and grabbed the suitcase. He put it in the car next to the cooler. "What are we doing with those things?"

She closed the trunk. "We need to transport what we find." She clapped her hands together. "Now, help me put the box spring and the mattress on top of the car."

"W-w-what?! Why?!"

"Never trust the elevators. Ever. Most of them are broken and will fall if anything touches them. So, we (my dad and I) decided that if we had anything heavy that can't go down the stairs, we throw it out the window onto the car. Works every time. We even did that to a refrigerator without killing the shocks on this thing." She grabbed some rope. "You ready."

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Slowly they put the box spring and the mattress on the car. It barely fit under the garage door.

"I'll drive," said John. He walked over and got in to what he thought was going to be the driver's side.

Leona got in and started the car. "Sorry, John, but the elderly people who lived here brought their American car over so that's actually the passenger seat."

"Don't tell me you're going to drive!"

"Don't worry, I actually drive safer than my dad. So you're lucky you're not with him right now."

Driving the speed limit, they reached the largest hospital in London.

The hospital was covered with trails of rust and vines. The windows were broken. The sign that once said HOSPITAL lost the letters, o, p, a and l. An ambulance with flat tires sat in front of the hospital.

Leona pointed to the hospital sign. "If you move the h between the s and the i and you'll get what this building looks like." She laughed.

"Hey! Don't swear. What would your dad say if he were here?"

She parked the car as close as she could to the building. "He'd just laugh." She got out of the car and opened the trunk. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Slowly, he got out of the car and shivered. "I use to work here you know. I used to have a lot of friends here." He shivered again.

"That's great." She shoved the suitcase into his arms. "I mean about the working here. That means you can find all the medicine and other equipment we need." She turned and headed into the hospital with the cooler.

John took a deep breath. He slowly followed her in. He looked around. He could picture the nurses running around helping people, joking around and the phones ringing off the hook. He sighed and continue forward. _Can't think of the past now_, he thought, _must move on_.

Leona stopped at a large freezer. She opened the cooler. Slowly she unlocked the giant freezer. She tossed packets of blood and IV bags into the cooler. When the cooler was full, she closed the cooler and then the freezer. "Ok, I'll be right back. You fill those suitcases with as much medical stuff as you can."

"Ok, fine," he said. "I'll just do that."

Leona left the hospital with the cooler. Stopping once in a while to rest her arms. Once she reached the car, she opened the trunk and put the cooler in the back. "That works."

"Woof," said a deep voiced dog.

Leona quickly got out of the trunk of the car and turned around. "Oh, it's just you Shakespeare."

Standing in front of Leona was a big black Great Dane. His tail wagging happily. A pair of ski goggles in his mouth. "Woof," he said dropping the goggles.

Leona picked them up. "Thanks, Shakespeare, I needed another pair of these." She looked around. "I take it Anthony is here somewhere, isn't he?"

"Woof," said Shakespeare.

She rubbed his ears. "I'd love to see him, but I'm a little busy. Can you tell him I said 'hi' for me?"

"Woof," he said. He trotted off.

She watched him go to an old ski shop. "So that's where he is, eh," she said. She gripped the ski goggles. She turned around and headed back to the hospital. When she opened the door, she almost ran into John. "Whoa!"

"Where have you been," cried John.

She looked at the suitcase behind him. "Wow, you filled that up already?"

"It's not that big." He walked passed her. Opened the trunk and slid the suitcase in. "That's means we're done, right?"

"Nope." She put her goggles over her eyes. "Here, put these ski goggles on."

"Why?"

"Because Darkseekers will go for the eyes. You're easier to pick off when you can't see. So, put the goggles on. We're going to go deeper into the hospital and get a portable X-ray machine."

He quickly put the ski goggles. "Ok, but the X-ray is on the 2nd floor. We'd have to take the stairs."

She shook her head. "No, the elevator is better. There's no sunlight that can enter the stairwell, where when an elevator's doors open sun will enter. So darkseekers don't really like elevators."

At the elevator, Leona pulled out a 9mm gun from her pocket. She removed the safety. She loaded the gun and pushed the elevator button.

"You said that Darkseekers don't like the elevator."

"Yes, but, a scout will use the elevator," she said. "They stay awake during the day to protect the rest of the group." She added.

The elevator dinged. The doors opened. It was empty. The walls covered with blood stains.

"You want me to get in that thing?"

Leona pushed him into the elevator. "That's right." She pushed the number Two button. "We have to hurry, the longer we stay here, the more likely that we'll run into the Scout."

The elevator opened to the second floor.

The second floor was far darker than the first. Most of the lights were broken. Water leaked from the pipes between the third and second floor. There was a large window behind them.

Leona walked over to the window. "Time has gone by fast. Its noon already." She turned around. "The car is under this window."

"Can we just hurry up and find the portable X-ray machine?"

She walked down the hallway. She stopped at the third door on the right side. "Here we go 'X-ray in use. Do Not Enter.' This must be the room." She tried to turn the knob. It wouldn't move. She tossed John the gun. "Hold that."

"What, but…" He caught it. "What if there's someone behind that door."

"I doubt it. The door's just jammed." She wrestled with the door. She paused for a second. With all her might, she was able to open the door. "Oh, you were right."

Standing in the doorway was the Darkseeker Scout. It bared its teeth at Leona. It pounced on her, sending her to the ground.

"What the hell was he doing in there," cried John.

"I don't know, just shoot it," she screamed at him. She pushed her left knee into its gut. "I can't stay like this forever, you know!"

Hands shaking he raised the gun, tried to aim and fired.

Leona screamed. "You moron," she cried. "You shot me!" Blood spilled from her left leg.

The Darkseeker became excited.

"Toss me that gun," Leona snapped.

He tossed her the gun. "I'm sorry! I've never used a gun before." He figured she was going to pistol whip it. Instead, she shoved the barrel of the gun into its mouth.

She pressed her lips together. She plugged her nose with one hand. She pulled the trigger, blowing Its brains out. Blood fell on her hand and parts of her face and goggles. She rolled its body over onto the floor. Slowly, she stood up. She put her weight on the other foot. "Tomorrow," she growled, "We're going to the police station and you're going to get used to firing a gun."

"I-I'm sorry! I…"

"Not now! We've got to get out of here!" She hoped down the hall. "The darkseekers will be attracted to the blood oozing out of me."

"Then what do we do," asked John.

She pointed to a large window at the end of hall. "There," she said leaning on him. "Out that window."

"What?!"

"That's right. Out the window. Just hope the car is right there."

"No!!"

She grabbed his arm. Pain burned through her leg as she ran. She jumped through the window with John. The glass exploded around them.

They landed on the mattresses on the top of the car.

Leona slid down off the car. She collapsed when she landed on her foot wrong. "Fuck."

"Hey, watch your language," said John. He helped her into the passenger seat. He ripped his shirt and wrapped it around her wound. "Apply pressure to that until we get back, got it? I'll drive."

John drove as fast as he could. A puddle of blood was forming under Leona's foot.

"I'm getting…light headed. What does that mean?"

"Nothing good." John pulled into the driveway. He ran over to the passenger side. He opened the door, unbuckled Leona and picked her up.

"…What are you," she muttered. "I…walk…yes."

"You can't, no, I can't have you walking. You'll lose more blood that way. You're starting to go into shock anyway." He carried her into the house. He quickly walked her to the bathroom. He carefully set her in the tub. "Keep applying pressure, I'll be right back." He ran back to the car. He grabbed the suitcase with one hand and the cooler in the other. "I hope that Paul won't get mad at me for this." He ran back to the house.


	6. The game

Alucard's little sister: Okay, the last chapter was a bit too long. So, this chapter is the conclusion to it. I don't own Fallout 3.

Editor Cain: That's fine. Though, you really need to update sooner than this.

The Game

John came into the bathroom. He set the Cooler on the toilet. He set the suitcase down and opened it. "I need you to take off your pants," he said picking up a small bottle and a needle.

Her jaw tightened as she slowly pulled down her pants. There was blood covering most of her leg. There was a hole in her leg. "Ow, what are you doing," she asked.

"It's a local anesthesia to stop the pain," he said. He put the needle into her leg just above the wound. "I'm going to have to stitch you up. But first, I'm going to have to flush out the wound, so you're going to get wet." He reached up and pulled down the shower head. After adjusting the temperature, he turned it on. He cleaned the blood off her leg then aimed the shower head into the wound. He turned off the water and hooked it back up. He reached into a small pocket in the suitcase. He pulled out a container with a sanitary needle and a bag with surgical thread. Carefully, he threaded a needle. Slowly he stitched one side, then the other. He threw the needle out.

Leona had her hand over her eyes. "Are you done yet," she asked.

"Well, I'm done with the stitching, if that's what you're asking." He reached into the suitcase and pulled out some gauze. "I'm going to wrap it up for a while. Do you remember what your blood type is?"

"Uh, no, my dad might know. Why?"

He sighed. "You really should know that. Hopefully, you didn't lose too much blood."

The door swung open. "What the hell happened?"

"Hi, Dad, in here!"

Paul stormed into the bathroom and dropped the car mat. "Again, what the hell happened?"

She pointed at John. "He missed the monster and shot me," she said.

"YOU DID WHAT," Paul boomed.

John panicked. "I didn't…I didn't mean to shot Leona," he cried. "I've never shot a gun before."

"It was a crazy moment," said Leona. "Hey, that means I won the game today."

"I don't think so," said Paul. "I got surrounded by those things and had to use a flash grenade to escape. I almost lost my shoes."

"Oh, yeah, well, I got pinned down by one where, after getting shot myself, I shot it in the mouth. From there we jumped out a closed window, breaking it, and landing on the mattress on the car, then drove here. How's that?"

Paul collapsed slightly."That's so…dramatic. Minus a few points for friendly fire, but still it was the window," he sighed. "I guess that means you….won the game today."

"Yes, sweet," she shouted. "I win, I win! I want Spam!"

"Saw that coming," said Paul. "All right, John, close the upstairs windows, I'll get the downstairs and Leo…stay here."

"Okay," Leona said.

John closed the windows upstairs. He joined Paul in the kitchen. He was shaking. _What if he shoots me with that gun of his for hurting Leona,_ John thought. "Uh, Paul," he muttered.

Paul was cutting a chunk of Spam. He put a slice on a frying pan. "All the windows closed upstairs," he asked. Before John could answer, he continued. "Good. Tomorrow, you and I will go target practicing at the police station for a few hours." He turned around. "And after dinner, you are going to do the dishes. Go it?"

"Ok, are you…"

"Annoyed, yes, but not mad," said Paul. "I understand that it was your first time with a gun. What I want to know where you've been for the past three years? Why haven't you needed a gun until now?" He put more Spam on the pan.

"Paradise Hotel," said John. I found it after wandering the sewers. It had food and water. It also seemed to be quieter than here."

Paul chuckled. "Ah, now I get," he said. "Darkseekers don't go near that Hotel. I heard there's a demon that haunts that place and that's why Darkseekers don't go near there."

John took a step back. "Really? I didn't hear anything."

"I'm sure you're not to suppose to hear a demon unless it wants you to hear it. We can talk about it later, right now, its dinner time." A few minutes later he had three plates of spam ready. "John, you can eat here by yourself. I'm going to be with Leon."

John looked down at the floor. "That's fine," he muttered.

Paul left a plate and walked into the bathroom. He closed the door. "Dinner, Leon."

"You know, Dad, you don't have to be so mean to him," said Leona grabbing the plate from Paul. "Your voice carries."

"Then you heard where he's been for three years," said Paul sitting down on the floor.

"Yeah, I heard," she said, "go figure he'd be there. Paradise Hotel, a place where the crazy Darkseekers don't go near. No wonder he's never fired a gun before. He had a protector. So, what did you tell him?"

"I told it was because there's a demon in that hotel and that's why they didn't go near it."

"DAD! How could you be so mean?" She ate some Spam. "So, uh, did he believe you about the demon story?"

Paul's head bobbled. "You know…I think he did," he said, "because he asked me how come he never heard anything. I told him that the demon would only be heard if it wants to be heard." He ate a piece of Spam. "On a different note, where the hell did he get those cool goggles?"

"Anthony's dog, Shakespeare, came over with them. He didn't seem to mind that I took them."

"I see…and how did the plan go?"

"Failure. Pure and simple. I wish I had a restart button. We were able to find things like medicine, gauze, and needles, but we didn't get the x-ray machine. In fact that's where that Darkseeker was. It was in the X-ray room. I'm sure there's more in there."

Paul nodded. "I see. Don't worry about it; I'll take care of it." He finished dinner. "Anything else?"

"Yes, do I have to stay in this damn tub? I'll get bored quickly."

Paul sighed. "Give me a minute and I'll put you on the couch."

John cleaned some of the dishes before he put them in the dishwasher. When he was doing this he noticed a white board next to the refrigerator. He walked over to it to see what it said. _Wonder what that means,_ he thought. _Is it number of kills or something? _When John was done with the dishes he grabbed the whiteboard. He walked into the living room.

"Crap! I need a Stimpak," cried Paul making John jump. "Quick, where can I find one?!"

"Screw the Stimpak, just get out of the Museum! Once out you can just quick travel to Megaton and get healthy. Then buy Stimpaks there."

John looked over to the corner where Paul was playing a game and Leona was holding a large book and watching. "What are you…"

There was a boom and Paul dropped his controller. "Crap, I died. Now I have to do the numbers all over again!"

"No, not really when you entered the west wing towards the Lander it auto-saved so you don't have to start all over again. You just have to go to terminals #002 and #003 again," said Leona. "And, lead with the Combat Shotgun. You can take out more Super Mutants with it."

"What are you playing," John asked.

Leona looked over. "Oh, we're playing Fallout 3. Dad's trying to help Three Dog."

John thought about this for less than a second. "Isn't that ironic? I mean, this is an apocalyptic time where there are zombie-like monsters running around trying to kill us and you're playing a game in which the world was destroyed by a nuclear war."

"Which has ghouls and super mutants trying to kill you," said Paul. "There's also raiders that try to kill you which isn't in the real world. Yeah, it's a bit ironic."

"Anyway," John held out the whiteboard. "What's with this board?"

Paul paused the game and looked over. "Oh, that's the Leader board." He handed Leona the controller. "You get me out of this."

"Ok," Leona said and started playing.

"You see, we play a game. When or if you get attacked by Darkseekers, you must make your escape dramatic. Like jumping out of the building window, sliding a mine under a door to see if you can kill them as you're leaving and something like driving your car at high speed and hitting one with a baseball bat. The most dramatic escape of that day wins. The winner gets to pick out what we eat for dinner after. The loser does the dishes…with the exception of today because you had to pay for shooting my daughter! Each X by the name is a win. The more X's the more times someone has won."

"And who's Jenny," he asked.

"Jenny was…is a solider of the UK army that stayed here when the quarantine occurred. Momo is her cat."

"She's also the one who trained us in shooting guns bigger than a hand gun," said Leona.

"Oh," said John. "Where is she now?"

"Missing, presumed dead," said Paul. He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a shotgun. He opened the metal slide to the front door. "I need to go out for a bit," he said. "Leon, you know what to do."

"Yes, sir," said Leona. When Paul walked out the door, Leona shut the metal shutter.

John looked back and forth. "Wait!? Why…What's going on!?"

"Oh, don't worry," she said, limping back to the couch. "He'll be back in time for you to practice shooting."

"That's not what I mean…he could be killed out there!"

"Don't think about that. He'll be fine. Dad knows what he's doing."

John sighed. "I wish I could be as carefree as you right now," he muttered. "I'm going to try and go to bed."

"Ok, good night."


	7. All nighter

Alucard's little sister: It was actually hard to think of a title for this one. Anyway, see the first chapter and I don't own the Beatles.

Editor Cain: Maybe because you have two big things going on in this one.

Alucard's little sister: No…I don't think that was it

All nighter

Paul walked over to the station wagon. He put the shotgun on the passenger side and the bullets in the glove compartment. He took one last look at the house before getting into the car and driving off.

At the hospital a man followed a large black Great Dane. From his head to his waist he was covered with chain mail. The jeans he wore had holes in the knees and his converse shoes were nothing more than duct tape. On his back was a medium size military flamethrower and on his belt there was a sword. He sang as he walked:

_Martha my dear though I spend my days in conversation_

_Please_

_Remember me Martha my love_

_Don't forget me Martha my dear_

_Hold your head up you silly girl look what you've done_

_When you find yourself in the thick of it_

_Help yourself to a bit of what is all around you_

_Silly Girl._

His singing attracted a Darkseeker in the ground floor of the hospital. It became mad. It jumped out the window and ran towards the man.

The Great Dane lunged at it. The dog grabbed the Darkseeker's arm and pulled until it came off. The Great Dane let go of the arm and went for the other one.

This gave the man enough time to pull his sword and cut off the Darkseeker's head. "That was easy, Shakespeare," he said. "So, are you sure that he came this way?"

"Woof," said Shakespeare. His tail began to wag. He sniffed the Darkseeker, then continued on.

The man looked around. "Damn it, why would he be over here?" He walked a few steps and then stepped on something. He looked down to see a photo. "Huh?" He lifted his foot up and picked up the picture.

It was a picture of John Silivo and his girlfriend at the London Eye.

The man stomped his foot hard, making Shakespeare stop walking and tilt his head. "Why," the man cried. "Why did he have to come here to this hell-hole." He looked under one of the windows to find a skeleton in a doctor's white coat. He walked over to the skeleton, kneeled down next to it and lifted the arm up a little. "Shit, now what am I going to say to Madam Butterfly?"

"Woof, woof," said Shakespeare.

He put the arm down. "I wish I could share your carefree attitude, buddy." He bit his nails. "Now what?"

"Practicing your pick-up lines, Anthony," asked a voice.

Anthony turned around to see Paul. He stood up. "Paul, what the hell are doing here?!"

"Oh, just going into this hospital to get an X-ray machine," he said. "What about you?"

Anthony rubbed the back of his neck. He looked at the picture still in his left hand. "I was just looking for someone…"

Paul quickly grabbed the photo. He looked at it. "I'll take that," he said. "He's been missing this." He turned and headed to the station wagon.

"Wait," cried Anthony. "Who's he…you don't mean…"

"That guy in the photo?" He opened the passenger door, put the photo in the glove compartment, he pulled out the shot gun and the shells. "Yeah, I mean him. He lost this today and probably wishes he had it now."

"No, way! He's with you two?!"

Paul smiled. "He is and I take it you've been protecting him for the past three years." He started loading the shot gun.

"Yes, Madam Butterfly told me keep an eye on him after I saw him enter the Paradise Hotel. Betty and I would keep those Darkseekers away while making sure he had everything he needed. I even let my dog wander in the hotel to keep him company. I guess he turned on the radio."

Paul started toward the hospital. "Yesterday, he came running into the pub. He's been with us since then." He stopped by the door. "So, since you aren't doing anything anymore would you care to help me?"

Anthony trotted over along with Shakespeare. "What is it?"

"I'm going in there. I need the x-ray machine to help finish our little hospital in our base. There are probably tons of Darkseekers in there." He reached into the pocket of his windbreaker jacket and pulled out a pair of safety glasses. "I just have a shotgun, an incendiary grenade, a handgun and the Afterlife special. But, what do you say? Care to join me? It would make my job easier."

Anthony grabbed the nozzle of his flamethrower from behind his back. He put his sword back in its hilt. "I'm in. But you know the drill. I need to be paid."

Paul rolled his eyes. "Yes, fine, tomorrow I'll give you a Twinkie…no…make that two Twinkies if you help."

"I'm in, Shakespeare, how about you?"

"Woof, woof," said Shakespeare.

The three of them rushed into the hospital.

At six in the morning, Leona's digital watch alarm went off. Slowly, she woke up, reached her hand into her jean's pocket, and pulled out a garage door opener. She pushed the button and all the metal shutters unlocked and slowly opened. The sun slowly flooded into the rooms.

"We really need to get these doors to be auto-close too," Leona muttered. She put the garage door opener back into her pocket. She laid back down and fell asleep.

Ichigo walked over with his food bowl in his mouth. He set the bowl on Leona's arm. He sat down and stared at her. He waited two minutes before he pushed the bowl and put his cold, wet, nose on to her arm.

"Ahh," she cried. The bowl fell on the floor. She looked down at Ichigo. She waved her arm at him. "Give me a few more minutes. You'll get your food."

Ichigo let out a whine.

"Later." She turned her back to him.

The deadbolt on the front door turned then clicked. The front door opened. Paul dragged himself in the door. He had dark lines under his eyes. His blue windbreaker was ripped on the sleeves, his grey shirt had a burn hole on the left side, and his left hand was wrapped between his thumb and fingers. He dragged his feet over to the couch. "Good morning, Leona," he said.

Leona jumped up. "Good morning, Dad," she said. "How was your night adventure?"

Paul sat down next to Leona. "It's a mix. I got the machine plus a few more, but sadly my hand and shirt got burned by Anthony's flamethrower. I put ointment for the burns on my hand and wrapped it up." He ran his hand through his short, brown hair. "I slept in the house next door at around 2:45 am."

"I see. So, what's the plan for today?"

"Today, I'm taking John to shooting practice. You probably should stay here. But while you are here, you can mark out a good spot to make a connection to the other house. Also…" He got up and walked over to the cabinet under the stairs. He pulled out a big radio with an iPod attached to it and a HAM radio. "I think that this thing should be manned today. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan," she said. "I couldn't think of a better plan myself. So, I take it you're going to wake up John."

Paul got up. He started walking up the stairs. "That's right. I'm using wake up maneuver 'Drill Man'."

"Oh, boy." Leona got up, grabbed Ichigo's bowl. "Come on, boy, let's get you fed."

Paul went into a small closet and pulled out an air horn. He walked into John's room, put one finger in his ear and pushed the air horn button.

John jumped out of bed. "Ahhh! What's going on?"

"Oh, good, you're up," said Paul. "Get dressed and anything else, then come down stairs. And, be quick about it. We don't have all day."


	8. Training Day

Alucard's little sister: See first chapter, plus I don't own any of the songs in this one either. And I don't own the London Eye which is the giant Ferris Wheel in London. And, I don't own Star Trek or Alice in Wonderland.

Editor Cain: I noticed in the last two chapters you had two different people say the same line.

Alucard's little sister: I know, I thought it was funny. Also this chapter is a little on the long side.

Training Day

Leona grabbed a bowl of oatmeal next to Paul. She walked over to the radio, unplugged the tape recorder playing Paul message. She plugged in a large headset. "Good-morning, Londoners, this is Leo the Lion, coming to you live from my monster-free bunker to bring you news and music." She ate a spoonful of oatmeal. "Remember, if you need a better place to stay or need some help, come to the Winchester pub when the sun is at its peak, that's noon, folks. We'll be there until the sun starts to set, so don't worry about getting there exactly at noon. And now, said here's some music." She turned her iPod on and took her headset off. She turned around to see John running down the stairs. She smiled and ate more oatmeal.

He looked over at her. "What, what did I do?"

"Oh, no not you, my Dad. He woke you up with an air horn like Drill Sergeant."

"I see."

She pushed him. "Quick, into the kitchen and eat or my Dad will make you leave without it."

"I'm going, I'm going," he cried and ran into the kitchen. The first thing John noticed when he sat down at the table was Paul's hand. "What happened to you?"

Paul finished his breakfast and looked at his hand. "Oh, it's nothing, don't worry about it. Just eat up. You have 3 minutes."

Leona was back at the radio. "Hey, everybody, it's me, Leo the Lion. Let's have some fun. It's time for Ironic hour. Time where I play a song that's ironic to play now and songs that aren't. If you can name all the songs that are ironic, you win a prize. And now, the first song and trust me I'm giving this one away." She turned her iPod on.

_That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane -_

_Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn -_

_world serves its own needs, regardless of your own needs. Feed it up a knock,_

_speed, grunt no, strength no. Ladder structure clatter with fear of height,_

_down height. Wire in a fire, represent the seven games in a government for_

_hire and a combat site. Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the furies_

_breathing down your neck. Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered_

_crop. Look at that low plane! Fine then. Uh oh, overflow, population,_

_common group, but it'll do. Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its_

_own needs, listen to your heart bleed. Tell me with the rapture and the_

_reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright_

_light, feeling pretty psyched._

_It's the end of the world as we know it._

_It's the end of the world as we know it._

_It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine._

Paul walked over to the front door. "Let's move, slow poke," he shouted. "I'll be by the car. If you are not over in the next three minutes, I'm dragging you out!" He opened the door and was gone.

A minute later John came running into the living room.

Leona grabbed his coat before he could reach the door. "A quick word of advice, John, as soon as you get in the car, buckle up. I drive slow compared to him."

"Ok," John said. "Have a good day, Leona." He ran out the door. He opened the passenger side door of the Vibe and got in. He immediately buckled up.

"Good, I was about to drag you out of the house, pokey," said Paul. He put the key in the ignition. He turned the key. He made the pedal kiss the floor of the car.

John screamed as the car rocketed down the street.

Leona laughed. "He is so doomed. I wonder if he'll survive. And, Dad calls me a reckless driver. Freaks the lot of them." She went back to the radio. "Wasn't that song fun? And now, for some news. The raid on the hospital was successful. We now have a small hospital ward at our base. So now, if you need medical attention, you can come to us. And now back to the music."

_I see my red door and I want it painted black  
No colors anymore I want them to turn black_

I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes  
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they're all painted black  
With flowers and my love both never to come back  


Paul turned on the radio and sang along. He looked over at John for moment. "Come on, Doc, live a little."

John covered his eyes with his hands. "Just tell me when this is all over," he muttered.

Paul sighed. "Oh, you're no fun." He took a sharp turn nearly bringing the left side tires off the ground. Next, he was slamming the car and park and turning it off. "We're here." He got out of the car, then looked back at John. "Hey, Doc, get out of the car."

"You...drove…like…a maniac…without…wearing a…seatbelt," said John. Slowly, he recovered from the drive and took off his seatbelt.

"Ah, seatbelts are for babies. Come on, let's get going here it's only…" he checked his watch, "seven'o clock and I don't want to be here all day, Doc."

"I'm coming," cried John. "And stop calling me Doc! It's John, my name is John."

"Oh, sorry, would you prefer it if your nickname was Bones," Paul asked as they headed into the police station.

"Uh…I don't…wait…why do I need a nickname?"

"Because they're fun. I call Leona, Leon, so what do you want to be called? How about Joe?"

"No, not that, anything but that!"

"Ok, Bones it is."

"Oh, yeah, well, what's your nickname?"

Paul unlocked the front door to the station. "My nickname? It's Hatter, of course."

John sighed. "I should have known. You are a Mad Hatter." He followed Paul into the basement.

It was an old shooting practice range with cardboard cutouts to shoot at.

Paul walked over to a shelf on the wall. He turned on the radio, and then grabbed a handgun. "I like this song. I don't want to set the world on fire. I just want to start a flame in your heart." He walked over to John. "Now, Bones, I want you to shot this gun at one of those cardboard cutouts. I don't care which one, just pick one. And don't worry about wasting bullets because these are rubber bullets, they're useless against Darkseekers but great for practice."

John slowly took the gun from Paul. "Are you sure I need to do this?"

"Yes, get shooting."

Meanwhile Leona dragged a pencil down the wall. "That works, now…" she grabbed the measuring tape and ran it across the floor a few feet. She drew another line up the wall. "Almost done with that." She walked back to the radio. "Hey again, it's me, Leo the Lion, Ironic hour is almost over but don't worry there is still one more song left. And remember, write down all the songs that are Ironic to play nowadays and get a prize. Now, back to the music."

_Here is a little song I wrote _

_You might want to sing it note for note _

_Don't worry be happy _

_In every life we have some trouble _

_When you worry you make it double _

_Don't worry, be happy......_

"Stop shaking so damn much, Bones, you're like a cat in a fireworks factory," snapped Paul. He grabbed John's arm. "Don't hold the gun so tight. You've got to think of it as part of you. You know, like some cheesy underdog story." He took a few steps back. "Continue shooting."

"Sorry," John said. "This is hard." He tried to aim and fired. He hit the gut of the cardboard cutout. "Let me see you do it."

Paul sighed. "Fine, hand it over." He took the gun from John, pushed him aside and aimed the gun. He fired and hit the cardboard cutout in the eye. He gave the gun back. "That's how it is done."

"You make it look easy and you only started using guns three years ago?"

"No." A devious smile spread across Paul's face. "I've shot handguns before this. I needed to work with the army one year so I wanted at least a handgun to protect myself. It was also where I first met Jenny who became a tenant of the duplex."

**Quarantine night**

Paul drove through the crowd to the duplex.

Leona pointed at a blue electric Vibe in the driveway. "Look! It's Jenny's car," she said happily. "Do you think she's in there?"

"Just because her car is in the driveway doesn't exactly mean she's here. I mean, if you look into the garage you can see that old wrong-side driver's seat station wagon from that old couple that lived on the first floor. They left four days ago to go to the Finland Colony. I bet she's probably at the docks."

"AHHHH!" Her scream woke Ichigo up for a second. "Don't say that! You just said it was a death trap over there!"

He parked the bike next to the Vibe. "Ok, I'm sorry, let's just get in the house before they come."

When they entered the house, a door, separating one apartment from the other, slid down the stairs. Jenny walked down the stairs, picked it up and leaned it against the wall. She turned and spotted Paul and Leona. "Oh! I thought you left for the colony. Does this mean I'm not gonna get my safety deposit back?"

"See Dad, I told you that she would be here," said Leona. "I'm gonna go pick out my room upstairs." She walked up the stairs, with Ichigo asleep in her arms.

"You know, I was surprised to see you too," said Paul. "I thought you'd be at the docks with the other soldiers. You know, to keep order and what-not."

Jenny scoffed. "I did that shit for three days in a row. I told them, that whether they like that or not, I wasn't going to do it again. Especially on the last day. I'd be better off herding cats. So what if you been up to? Where's your wife?"

"She's dead. Killed by the virus," said Paul. "How about you? How have you been?"

"I've learning to hate people more and more. Especially in large groups, they're like sheep, one person passes out and panic occurs. And that's why I technically quit the army."

Paul scratched his head. "So, why did you join the army in the first place?"

"You know I can't remember. Either way life is going to be interesting from now on."

**Present day**

Leona's digital watch went off. "Ooh, where are those two?" she got up from the radio station. "Well, I'll just close the windows upstairs while I wait."

The front door opened, and John fell into the room. "Ugh, my arms are so sore. Did I really have to shoot so many times?"

"Duh, don't worry, we'll be doing it again," said Paul. He kicked John's foot. "Just get into the house and let me in, too."

After dinner, the three of them played video games in the living room. The iPod continued to play music.

"So, what is the plan for tomorrow," asked John.

"Tonight, I'm going to make the radio station permanent. I mean no one wants to listen to some crummy old message every hour, on the hour, when they can listen to music with the message playing every once in awhile," said Leona. "We need a security thing for the front door of the house next door. So, we should go to the shipyard tomorrow and tear a ship apart."

"I have a question," said John. "When I woke up, I noticed that all the windows were open. Did someone walk around and open them all?"

"No. We have a button that opens the window shutters."

"Then why don't we have a button that closes the iron windows?"

"Because the last time we did something like that the circuit breaker exploded," said Paul. "I'm not kidding you, it really went boom. I had to replace the entire thing with another circuit breaker from another house. It just can't be done. It's too much stress on the circuit breaker."

"Well then get a stronger circuit breaker," said John. "I mean we're going through the shipyard, right? All those ships had a ton of computers on a breaker. And since we're going to tear up a ship, then why don't we steal a circuit breaker from one. I'm sure it's stronger than a house circuit breaker and can handle the load."

Paul banged his head on the coffee table. "Why didn't I think of that? I mean I'm an electrician for crying out loud."

"Looks like we've got a plan for tomorrow," said Leona.


	9. Cloudy Day

Alucard's little sister: Wow, that last chapter was a bit on the long side. Oh, well, it can't be helped, some of chapters will be longer and others will be short. Oh, yes, and see first chapter.

Editor Cain: You're on a roll with these chapters right now. One right after another.

Alucard's little sister: I know. I love this story but I've been ignoring it for too long. I thought about this chapter while reading the book _I am Legend_.

Cloudy Day

Leona woke up at six in front of the radio. It finished playing a song then played the message that she made. "Hello," said the radio in Leona's voice. "This is Leo the Lion, if you are lonely, need ammo, or even a place to stay, then come over to the Winchester Pub when the sun is at its peak. I'll be there until the sun starts to set. And now some music." The iPod started playing another song.

"Well, at last I know it works," she muttered. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the garage door opener and pushed the button. She looked out the windows when the metal shutters were opened. "Shit," she growled.

The skies were blanked with thick clouds. There was no sun to be seen.

"Looks like we're staying here today," said Paul. "Oh, well, you can't control the weather."

Leona sighed. "Damn it, I wanted to go to the shipyard today. I don't wanna stay here all day. You know what this means. "

"Yep, I'll wake up the knucklehead. C'mon, Ichigo," said Paul. He walked up the stairs with the dog in tow.

"I'll collect the sticks," said Leona.

There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," said Leona. She walked over to the door, opened it and sighed. "Oh, hi, Anthony, what brings you here?"

"I'm here to collect payment that your Dad forgot to give me yesterday," said Anthony. "Don't you just love the weather today?"

"Stay there, I'll go get it for you," said Leona. She walked over to the kitchen and opened the freezer. She took out two Twinkies and walked back to the front door. "Here you go, have a nice day."

Anthony took the Twinkies. "You too," said Anthony. He ran off.

"Loon," muttered Leona as she closed the door. "Now, to get the sticks."

Paul walked up the stairs into John's room with Ichigo following right behind. "Oy, John," shouted Paul, "wake up!"

John rolled over. He was still asleep.

"Waking him up is never easy, is it," he muttered to Ichigo. That's when it came to him. Paul pointed at John. "Ichigo, wake up drill L."

Ichigo trotted over to John. He gave John a good sniff and licked the side of his face. When that didn't work Ichigo started licking John's face all over.

John couldn't stay asleep any longer. "Alright, alright," cried John, "I'm up, I'm up!" He wiped the slobber off his face. "Eww, I've got dog breath… in my mouth gross."

"Good morning, how was that for a wakeup call," said Paul. "Now get ready and come down stairs. We have a lot to talk about today."

John dragged himself out of bed. "What's going on," he asked, but Paul was already gone. He went to the bathroom. He quickly got ready and dressed. He stopped and stared at the blood stained lab coat. He hovered it over the trash. "No, I can't," muttered John. He put the lab coat on. "Maybe I can find something that can get the stains out." He walked down the stairs.

Leona was sitting on the couch with Momo sitting on her lap. "Hey, John," said Leona. "Food is in the kitchen."

When John finished his breakfast, Leona walked over to him with three sticks in her hand.

"Pick a stick," said Leona. "Don't worry, just pick a stick."

John picked a stick. He pulled out a small stick. "Now what?"

Leona walked over to Paul. "Your turn, Dad," said Leona.

Paul pulled a long stick out. He put it in his mouth. "This thing is rigged," he growled.

"No, it's not. You're just unlucky," said Leona.

"I'm lost," said John. "What's going on?"

"Let me explain," said Paul. "It's a cloudy day. Which means two things, one, it's hard to tell time because you can't see where the sun is or see shadows. Two, since it's cloudy out, the Darkseekers can go outside of buildings for a few minutes so it's safer to stay here. So, instead of going out, we're going to clean the house. The three sticks were to decide who did what. Leon, we'll start with you. Since you have the medium stick, your job will be to dust, clean the litter boxes, clean the dishes and walk Ichigo."

"Yes sir," said Leona. "Sorry, Momo, but I have to get up now." She picked up the cat and sat her down on the couch. She walked into the kitchen. "C'mon Ichigo, let's go for a walk."

"Bones, since you have the short stick, you'll be doing the laundry," said Paul.

"With a wash machine," John asked.

"No, by hand, I'll go get you the washboard. Yes, you can use a wash machine and you can use a dryer. Keep an eye on the detergent and the dryer balls. In between cycles you will be vacuuming and or folding the clothes. Oh yeah, and pull the bed sheets off and wash them, too."

"Well then, what are you doing," John asked.

"Oh, just sitting around eating Bonbons. No, I'll be watering the plants in the greenhouse, feeding the chickens and giving them water in the little house next to the greenhouse and I'll be cleaning the bathrooms."

Leona walked back with Ichigo on a leash. "At least you don't have to nail the siding back on to the side of the house." She thought of something. "Hang on Ichigo." She walked over to the radio and switched the recorded tapes. "I knew I shouldn't have done this one last." She walked out the front door with Ichigo.

Paul laughed. "Yeah, my feet hurt just thinking about it," he said. He looked over at John. "I'll be outside if you need anything."

John walked up the stairs as the radio played a different message.

"Hi, it's me, Leo the Lion, due to circumstances beyond my control, I won't be at the Winchester Pub today. Be careful and be safe out there."

He brought the dirty clothes, in baskets, down the stairs and into the basement where the washer and dryer were. Everything was going well until John was on the fourth load of laundry. He filled the top with detergent and he checked the container after starting the load. "Empty," he said and he dropped the bottle. He grabbed a pile of folded clothes, he put them in a basket and walked them up the stairs. He set them in the living room and looked over at Leona who was dusting the curtains. "Where's Paul?"

"He's in the upstairs bathroom," said Leona.

"Thanks," he said. He walked up the stairs into the upstairs bathroom.

The upstairs bathroom was covered with Rubber ducks. There were rubber duck stickers on the walls and rubber duck toys in the tub.

Paul was cleaning the mirror when John came in. "What is it, Bones," he asked looking in the mirror. "It better be important."

"The detergent is empty," said John. "I have two more loads to do and then the bedding."

Paul sighed. "Very well," he said. He dropped the towel he was using. "Let's go."

John followed Paul out of the bathroom and down the stairs. "Where are we going," he asked.

"The Mega-Mart down the road," Paul said. "You heard that, Leon?"

"I did," said Leona. She checked her watch. "You have about four hours to go and get back. Good luck."

"We'll be using the station wagon," said Paul as they left in the house. "Because the Vibe needs to recharge its battery."

"Uh, sure, fine, whatever, I don't really care," said John. "Just don't drive too much like a maniac today."

To John's surprise, Paul drove the speed limit to the Mega-Mart. Just like the hospital the Mega-Mart had seen better days. Some of the letters had fallen off the sign and shopping carts littered the parking lot.

"Keep your guard up, Bones," said Paul, "for this is the most dangerous building in London." As they walked, in Paul grabbed a basket and handed it to John. "For the detergent."

"For a dangerous place, it sure doesn't look like it," said John.

All of the shelves were still standing and there was hardly any dust on the floor. The inside looked like it did before the quarantine.

Paul lightly hit John of the arm. "Shhh, not so loud, trust me, you won't like what's in here. Some keep it down to a whisperer," hissed Paul. "Now, follow me."

As they walked down the detergent aisle, tension in the air began to build. John leaned over Paul. "I think someone's watching us," he whispered.

"Well, hopefully, it's just a scout," whispered Paul. "It might even be just the security cameras above your head."

John looked up to see three security cameras above his head. "I guess that could be it," he whispered, "but I still have an uneasy feeling."

Paul grabbed two containers of detergent and put them in the basket. "all the more reason to get out of here." The two of them headed out but stopped a few feet in front of the door.

Right ahead of them was a Darkseeker. It seem to be unaffected by the fluorescent lights. It was dressed head to toe in military gear and the black armband signifying that he was infected.

"Awwh, shit," muttered Paul. "I was afraid of that."

The Darkseeker held out its hand showing all five digits. Slowly it put its thumb to its palm and then slowly brought down its index finger.

Paul tugged on John's sleeve. "Don't just stand there you idiot, run," snapped Paul.

"What the hell is it doing," asked John as they ran down the aisle.

"It's mocking us, that's what it's doing," shouted Paul. "Now shut up, and keep running!"

After the Darkseeker put its pinky down, it let out a screech, jumped on top of the shelf and ran after them. It spotted John, who was running slower then Paul. It leaped off the shelf and on to John, knocking him out.

Paul did not notice what happened and was able to get to the fire exit. When he opened the door, he noticed John was missing. He dropped the basket and grabbed the fire extinguisher by the door. He ran back. When he found the Darkseeker and John, the Darkseeker had John on his back and was running its finger over John's forehead. Not wanting to risk killing John, Paul used a fire extinguisher like a bat and hit the Darkseeker in the jaw.

The Darkseeker fell off John. It spit in to its hand and looked at it. In its hand was a blood covered front tooth. Throwing it to the ground, it ran off.

Paul put John's arm over his shoulder and dragged John to the exit. He kicked the basket out of the Mega-Mart. He continued dragging John and kicking the basket to the car. Paul opened the passenger side door and dropped John in. He picked up the basket and put it in the back. He went back to John and sat him up in the front seat.

Blood was running down John's face and getting into his eye as he regained consciousness. "Owww," he muttered, "what the hell happened?"

Paul grabbed a band aid from the glove compartment. He put the band aid on John's wound. "You were attacked by the most ruthless Darkseeker around," said Paul. "Tomorrow, we're going to have to explain a few things to you. Ok?"

John nodded. "Yeah, ok," John sighed. "I can see why you don't like going in there."


	10. Bullets and Butterflies

Alucard's little sister: See first chapter. The armband will be described in this chapter a little more. The armband is actually loosely based on a Zombie armband in an online comic called Zombie Hunter (the two armbands have an ! on them). Also, I don't own Hello Kitty. I don't own Zero Punctuation.

Editor Cain: Hey, this chapter has the same name as the story.

Alucard's little sister: Yes I know but there's a reason for that. Here's a heads up, words in are 'translated' Darkseeker speech. After all I'm sure they would have some way to talk to each other after a while...

Bullets and Butterflies

Five minutes after Paul and John left for the Mega-Mart, there was a knock on the door. Leona put Ichigo's litter box down and walked over to the door. "Did they forget something," she muttered.

By the front door was a woman in her late twenties with strawberry pink hair, a Hello Kitty nerd love shirt, jeans and Hello Kitty converse shoes. "Hey, Leo," she said.

"Hi, Betty, what's up," asked Leona.

Betty handed Leona three folded pieces of paper. "Here are the guesses for Ironic Hour yesterday," she said. "Are there any winners?"

Leona walked outside and closed the door behind her. She took the papers. "Let's see." She opened the first one. "Nope off by three." She opened the second one and shook her head. "Not even close." She looked at the last one. "Is this one yours?"

Betty nodded. "It is," she cried happily. "Did I win?"

"No," said Leona. "But you were close. Only one song off. If no one else comes over with their guess in the next seven days, then you'll win by default."

"Sweet," said Betty. "Oh, I heard you have a new member to your group. Can I see him?"

"No, sorry, he went with my Dad to the Mega-Mart to get detergent."

Betty flinched. "No! They didn't go there!"

"Why?"

"Well, I came from over that way and I saw, through the store windows that Bullet was up and walking around." Betty nodded after noticing Leona's shocked expression. "Yeah, it's strange that's Bullet up and about, but I think it had something to do with Cigarette getting caught in a bear trap last night. The sad thing was, it was able to get out of that trap."

"I wonder who set the trap." Leona took a deep breath. "Well, I really hope they can get out of there without getting too horribly mauled."

Betty laughed. "Oh, feel the love. Well, I've got to go, bye." She ran off.

Leona sighed. "I really hope those two will be ok," she muttered as she opened the door and went back inside.

The next day John was woken by a large crack thunder. He could hear the rain pouring down on the roof. He walked into the bathroom and checked the scratch on his forehead. It no longer needed a band aid. He reached through his hair on his left side to the large bump. "Ow," he muttered. Another clap of thunder shook the house. John looked into Leona's room to see her looking under her bed.

"It's ok, Ichigo," she said. "It's just thunder, it won't hurt you."

John could hear Ichigo let out a whine as he walked down the stairs. There was no one in the living room or kitchen so he headed to Paul's room. When he got there, the door was open. When John saw Paul, he held his breath to stop from gasping.

Paul's back was to the open door. He wasn't wearing a shirt which revealed deep scars that looked like deep scratches running down his back. A few inches from his shoulder blade, there was a scar that looked like someone had shot him. Paul picked up a shirt off the floor and put it on.

There was another loud clap of thunder and it made John yelp.

Paul turned around. "Hell of a wake up, eh" he said.

"Yeah, it is," said John. He looked at the metal sheets. "Must be really bad out."

Paul sighed. "It is. There's no point in opening those shutters. I had to bring the generators outside just in case the power goes out. I had to get a new shirt."

"So, you want to explain something important to me," said John nervously, trying to change the subject.

"Right," said Paul. "I almost forgot about that. Meet me in the living room. I'll get Leon." He walked by John to the foot of the stairs. "Leon! Leave the dumb dog alone to cower and come down stairs!"

"Ok, ok, sorry," called Leona.

John was sitting on the couch when Leona ran down the stairs with a large, rolled up, piece of paper in her hands. She set it on the table and unrolled it, revealing it to be a map of London. The map was old and coloured with a blue marker, red marker and one gold dot.

Paul grabbed a pointer from his pocket. He pointed at the map. "As you can see, this is London. Marks on this map are territories," said Paul. "Yes, you heard me right. Over the years the Darkseekers 'organized' into two groups. 29% of the city in red belongs to the Butterflies led by a woman called Madam Butterfly. The reason we call her that is because she wears dresses that look like monarch wings and a large monarch butterfly tattoo on her head."

"We think she was one of the people that was injected with the 'virus' to cure some sort of cancer," added Leona.

"Yes, we do, anyway," said Paul. "70% belongs to the Bullets and their leader called Bullet. In fact, that thing that attacked you was Bullet."

"Wait," said John. "Let me guess, you call him Bullet because he dresses head to toe in military gear and he has a tattoo of a bullet somewhere on him right."

Paul and Leona looked at each other then back at John. "You got the military part right, but," said Paul.

"We call him Bullet because he can catch bullets...with his mouth," said Leona. "It's the only spot on him not covered with high power bullet-proof clothing."

Paul cleared his throat. "Bullet is the most ruthless Darkseeker in the city. I've seen videos from security cameras of him ripping people apart. You were lucky to get away with just a scratch and bump on the head."

John flinched. "Oh, I see," he muttered. "Wait, what about us, where do we fit in here?"

Paul pointed to a gold dot between a blue and red line. "That's us. We're in the middle of their fight over all of London."

"And another thing, how can you tell the difference between a Butterfly and a Bullet Darkseeker?"

"Butterflies don't wear this," said Leona. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black armband with a gold circle in the middle. In the circle was a skull and crossbones with a bold, hollow, explanation mark. "The Darkseekers that are with Bullet don't seem to care about wearing them. While most butterflies take them off. I found this one at the pub, in case you were wondering."

"The reason we're looking for people is to help them stay out of this turf war between Darkseekers," said Paul. "Now, any other question?"

"Just one," said John as Leona rolled up the map. "What are we called? I mean what's our team name?"

Once again, Paul and Leona looked at each other then back at John. "Actually," said Leona. "We don't have one. It was just the two of us. Not really big enough to call ourselves a group."

"Well, I think we should have one just in case more people show up," said John. "I do have a good one."

"Ok," said Paul. "Let's hear it."

"We could be called, Daredevils," said John. "Because we play that game who can escape the most dramatically."

Leona tried not to laugh. "That is amazingly brilliant," she cried. "I love it. Let's call ourselves the Daredevils."

It took a moment for Paul to recover. "Yeah, sure, we can do that. Anyway, we have only 1% of the city. I figure the two groups can just kill each other and we will have the city."

"Sounds like the storm's subsiding," noted Leona as a small rumble of thunder rolled through.

Meanwhile, deep in the heart of Bullet territory three Darkseekers watched a small ranch house.

The house was plain, with one boarded up window and the others with cracks in them. There were three pikes each with a Darkseeker's head impaled on them. On the pikes was a sign that read: Do not disturb. Surrounding the house were several rusty bear traps.

Why won't Leader come and kill Grim Hissed one of the Darkseekers. Or even let us do it?

Another Darkseeker hit that one in the back of the head. Arno, your head not on right it adjusted a baseball cap on its head. Grimm kill everything. Rongo barely got away!

Babies hissed the third. Me do it. It walked over to the house.

The other two shook their heads. Leader said watch Grimm not kill One hissed.

He dead Arno muttered.

The Darkseeker was able to walk past five bear traps before one sank into its leg. Help It cried.

That's when a medium size bell began to ring. The deadbolt on the front door clicked and the door opened.

The Darkseekers began to panic as a man walked calmly out the door. He was wearing tall black combat boots, jeans, a long black trench coat, and a red shirt that said: I'm an Assassin (shhhhhh!). He had wild blue hair, yellow eyes and two piercings on his right eyebrow. In his hand was a two-handed sharpened pick axe.

It Grimm! Me gone Arno ran off.

Wait for me! The other Darkseeker ran off.

The one in the bear trap kept trying to pull its leg out. No! Don't leave the Grimm...

"Shut up, freak," said the man. "I can't stand that growling sound." He leaned on his axe and pulled out a picture as the Darkseeker continued to try to escape. He looked from the picture to the Darkseeker and sighed. "Nope, I was hoping you'd be the one that got away from me." He shrugged. "Oh, well, I'll get that one, one day. Until then." He took the axe with both hands and decapitated the Darkseeker with one swing. He threw the head out into the street, took the body out of the trap and dragged it into the street. He reset the bear trap before heading back in. He walked to the kitchen sink and washed the blood of his hands and axe. He picked up a marker and added another mark to a whiteboard. "That makes twenty freaks that I've killed. Stupid things." He grabbed the axe and walked into the living room. He opened a large round hatch door and walked down a ladder and closed and locked the door.

A small radio ended a song and started playing Leona's 'not going to the pub' message.

He sighed. "I wonder what Leo the Lion was like," he muttered. He took off his boots, walked over to a large flat screen TV and started playing video games.


	11. Shipyard

Finally Alucard's little sister: see last chapter.

Editor Cain: That thing with Darkseekers was strange.

Alucard's little sister: It seemed like a good idea at the time. Also, don't try what Leona is going to do to a K-car (because I don't think it would work in real life.)

Shipyard

Leona jumped up and down as the metal shutters opened. She ran up the stairs and nudged John awake. "Hey, John, wake up," she cried. "The sun is up today! We're going to the shipyard!"

After breakfast, Paul went into the basement and came back with a blowtorch. "Leon, go get the other vehicle," said Paul. "I think the keys are in the junk drawer."

"I'm on it, Dad," said Leona. She opened the drawer next to the refrigerator and searched through a pile of keys.

"So, I take it were all going to the shipyard," said John.

"You got that right, Bones, the shipyard is in Bullets territory," said Paul. "Don't worry, it won't take too long. Maybe just half the day."

Leona pulled out a key. "I got it. I'll be right back." She ran out the front door. She walked over to the garage of the other house and opened it. Inside the garage there was a large black truck. Leona used the key to unlock the truck and drive it into the middle of the road. She got out of the truck and back into the house. She opened the cabinet next to the door and pulled out a hunting rifle and three boxes of 12 bullets. "Ok, I'm ready, how about you two?"

Paul grabbed a shotgun. "I'm ready now," he said. "I'm driving." He walked out the door.

John walked over to Leona was a blow torch. "Do I need a weapon," he asked.

"Oh no," said Leona. "You're good to go with that. Now, let's go before he leaves us behind. "

When they got in the truck, Leona sat in the middle. The weapons were placed in the truck bed. She pointed her finger at Paul. "No driving like a maniac in the truck," she said. "Only takes one good hit to make the blowtorch explode."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it," growled Paul. "I'm not that stupid." He drove the speed limit over to a large building by the river. It was covered with rust. Through the rust were the words 'London Navel Shipyard'. He parked the truck and got out. "I forgot to ask, but did anyone forget anything?"

"No," said Leona. "Now get out, John, so I can."

John got out and followed Paul to the back of the truck. "So, how's this going down," he asked.

"Simple," said Paul. He pulled the blowtorch out and handed it to John. He then grabbed the hunting rifle and handed it to Leona before grabbing his shotgun. "You, with the torch will cut a chunk of a ship off. Then..." he pulled out a large U shaped magnet from a toolbox in the truck bed, "you put this on it and pull it enough so it falls onto a cart inside the building. After that well, we'll just go on from there."

Leona loaded her rifle. "You ready?"

Paul checked his shotgun. "I'm set, how about you, Bones?"

John looked down at the blowtorch. "I guess, I really don't know."

"Great," said Paul, "Let's go into the building." He slung the shotgun onto his shoulder. "Follow me."

"Psst," whispered John to Leona. "Have you been inside there before?"

She nodded. "Yeah, once or twice. It's not too bad. You just have to think of it as walking into a video game." She smiled. "Mind you, it's a violent video game," she added.

"Oh," said John.

Paul opened the door.

The shipyard building was lit only by emergency lights, which only lit up some spots. There was one battleship sitting on dry dock and two others in water.

Paul pointed to the one out of water. "That's the one we will be cutting," he said. "We'll get a fuse box from one that is in the water."

"Ok," said Leona. She walked over to a tool shelf by the left side of the door. She grabbed a can of red spray paint and a roll of measuring tape. "You two stay here. I'll mark the chunk off."

John looked around as Leona walked over to the grounded battleship and discovered glowing eyes by the other battleships. He stared at them until he noticed more of them. Five pairs of eyes in all. He grabbed Paul's sleeve and tugged on it. "We're being watched," he said.

"I know," said Paul. "We're surrounded." He pointed up at the rafters.

John looked up and discovered twelve Darkseekers. "Holy crap," he cried. He noticed that they weren't attacking them. "What are they waiting for?"

"You," said Paul. "It's you they're waiting for. You see, they hate that blowtorch of yours and so long as you're not using it on steel, they won't attack."

"But as soon as you use it on that ship over there," said Leona walking back. "They will attack. That's where we come in. We defend you like some kind of video game. So, don't worry about the Darkseekers. Let us know when you're ready."

John slowly walked over to the grounded ship. He stared at the door shape marking and sighed. He turned to Paul and Leona. "You know, I've never used one of these things before," he said.

Paul walked over to John. "It's like using a knife, made of fire," said Paul. "Here I'll turn it on for you." He turned the blowtorch on for John. "Then, just squeeze the trigger as you point it at the metal. Got it? You're ready? "

"I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be," said John.

Leona walked over to the two of them. She turned her back to John.

Paul did the same. "Like Leon said earlier, we've got your back don't worry about the Darkseekers," he said.

As soon as John put the blowtorch to the boat, the Darkseekers began to drop from the rafters and attack. Some of them had large third degree burns on them.

Leona and Paul began to take them out one at a time.

One Darkseeker rounded the ship and was a foot from John. He saw it in the corner of his eye. "Help," he cried as he pushed himself away from the thing. Everything was turned to silent slow motion to John as he dodged the Darkseeker's hand. Suddenly, the Darkseeker's head exploded. John could hear the spent cartridge fall to the floor and Leona reloading her rifle.

"Keep going," shouted Leona. "You can think about what happened later! If we stay too long we might run out of ammunition and that wouldn't be a good thing. So please, work quickly."

"Right, sorry," said John. A few minutes later he turned the blow torch off and turned around. "Done."

The five remaining Darkseekers, from the original 18 that attacked, ran off.

Paul sighed and dropped his shotgun to the floor. "Glad that's over," he said. "I only had two shells left."

"I have enough," said Leona. "So, are you alright, John, that Darkseeker didn't get ya did it?"

"It almost did but you have an amazing shot," John said.

"Thanks," she said.

Paul rolled his eyes. "If your head gets any bigger it won't fit in the truck," he said. "Anyway, I'll take care of this plate." He walked away.

Leona checked her watch. "Where does the day go?" She looked over at John. "Are you going to be ok?"

The adrenalin from being attacked left John and he collapsed on to his knees. He looked down at the floor then to Leona. "I'm wiped out...and I can't seem to get up."

Leona walked over to him and knelt down beside him. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I know, it's terrifying the first time you're attacked," she said. She stood up. "I have an idea, I'll find you a car and you can recover over at the Pub. What do you think?"

John sighed. He held out his hand for Leona who helped him get up onto his feet. "What about you two?"

"Don't worry about us," she said. "We've been in this kind of situation before so, we're not affected by it. Besides we still need to get the fuse box from one of the ships." She gave him a smile. "Let's go find a car." She grabbed a bucket of water on her way out the door. "Ok, pick a car, I'll be right back." She set the bucket down and ran over to the truck. She took out a key sized piece of straight metal, tweezers, and firemen's gloves. She walked back to John. "Did you find a good car?"

"That looks like it's still one piece," he said pointing to a powder blue K-car.

They walked over to the K-car. Unlike many of the other cars, all four tires had air in them. In fact, it looked like it was untouched since the quarantine.

Leona bent down and picked up an end of a large car-shaped tarp. "This is why it's still in good shape. Anyway, hand me the blowtorch," she said.

He handed her the blowtorch and she heated the key shape metal to a white hot. With the tweezers she put the white-hot key into the rear passenger door for a few minutes. She then pulled it out and threw it into the bucket of water which turned to steam. After the steam died down, Leona grabbed the key and pulled it out. "Ok, here we go." She put it in the front passenger's side door and unlocked it. She opened the door then the glove compartment. "Let's see what's in here." She pulled out a lighter, a hunter's knife, a pair of handcuffs and the car's registration. She put the knife in her belt loop, the lighter in her pocket and put the handcuffs on the seat. She read the registration. "Says here that the car belongs to a Desmond Hughes. Well, I'm sure he won't mind if you 'borrow' his car." She put it back along with the handcuffs. She gave him the key. "Here you go, you're all set. Have fun at the pub." Leona closed the passenger door.

"Thanks," he said. He got in the driver's seat and turned the car on. He gave Leona one more look in the rear-view mirror as he drove out of the parking lot and to the pub.

Leona grabbed the blowtorch left the bucket half-filled with water and walked back to the truck.

Paul was strapping the large metal plate to the truck. He looked over at Leona. "What have you been doing? Where's Bones?"

"Oh, I unlocked a K-car and he went to the pub," she said. "He's pretty shook up about nearly getting attacked. Now you're ready to get the fuse box?"

"You bet I am, let's go," he said.

At the pub, John collapsed on the floor. He sighed. "How in the world could she be so calm?" He ran his finger through his hair. "Oh, boy." That's when he heard scratching sound on the door. He turned to see Shakespeare, the black Great Dane, scratching at the door wanting to get in. John smiled and opened the door. "You always seem to know when I really need you, eh, Shadow?" He rubbed Shakespeare's floppy ears. "Are you physic?"

"Woof," said Shakespeare, tail wagging. He licked John's face.

"Gee, thanks," said John. "I love you, too, Shadow." He took a nap with Shakespeare using him as a pillow.

As the sun went down, John and Shakespeare parted ways and John drove back to the duplex. He parked Desmond's K-car in the driveway right next to the station wagon. He walked into a dark house. "What's going on?"

Leona walked over with a flashlight. "Dad's switching the current fuse box with the one from the ship."

"Oh, how did it go getting that," asked John.

She shrugged. "It was ok," she said. "Nothing too special happened. I mean we did kill the rest of the Darkseekers in there."

The lights came back on. "I'd hate to see what you think is crazy," said John.

"Ok, the switch is complete, push the button," shouted Paul from the basement.

Leona grabbed the garage door opener and pushed the button.

In the basement, Paul dove into a corner away from the fuse box. He lightly covered his ears. Slowly, he could hear the metal shutters close. He waited until everything was silent. He took his hands away from his ears. The lights were still on and the fuse box was still in one piece. "It worked," he cried. Muttering under his breath, "And, that's when the thing goes boom." He walked up the stairs and spotted John. "Hey, Bones, how's the K-car?"

"It's actually in great shape for just sitting there for three or more years," John said.

"That's great we'll add it to our arsenal of cars," said Paul. "And, if you thought today was crazy, just wait 'til tomorrow. We'll be cutting and joining this house with the one next door and I'll be putting up the metal shutter for the front to the other house."

"Do you ever have a day where you do absolutely nothing?"

"Once in a blue moon," sighed Leona.


	12. A New Daredevil

Alucard's little sister: See first chapter.

Editor Cain: Why did you mention the fact that the blue K-car is owned by a person named Desmond Hughes?

Alucard's little sister: You'll see why...soon. In case you were wondering the Ironic hour countdown is down to four days.

A New Daredevil

The first thing Leona and John did after breakfast was move all the furniture in the living room to one side of the room and away from the marked wall. Leona put Ichigo outside in the fenced backyard and put Momo in her room upstairs.

John covered the floor with large garbage bags cut open and taped together on the floor. He also covered the stairs with garbage bags. He watched Leona walk down the stairs. "So, what are we going to use to cut the wall with?"

"A chainsaw," said Leona, "connected to a super generator...outside of course. I'm going to get that. Stay here."

In the garage of the other house, Paul was making the mechanism to move the door shutter. He moved the truck out of the garage to have a bigger working space.

Leona walked into the living room with a large chainsaw attached to an extension cord. "Have you ever used one of these?"

John shook his head.

"Ok, well, I've never used one on drywall...so...here goes nothing." She pulled on the cord and turned it on. Slowly she put the chainsaw to the wall and ran it down the line she made earlier. Wall dust flew everywhere until she finished. She turned off the chainsaw and looked at the wall. The piece she cut out was still standing. She looked over at John. "Um, ok, I think I did something wrong."

"I've got it," said John. He took the chain saw from her and cut the wall where it met the floor. He turned off the chainsaw gave it back to Leona and kicked the wall. He stepped aside as the wall fell to the floor.

"That works," said Leona.

"Thanks," said John. "By the way, where's your dad, Paul?"

"He is working on the metal shutter for the front door to the other house in the garage of the other house," said Leona

In the garage Paul soldered two rod irons together. He took apart a garage door engine and separated it from a garage door track. He set the track on the top of table. He started making the grooves in the large metal shutter for the tracks. It was going well until, he paused for a moment for the metal to cool, the metal rod for the door slid down the wall and landed square on Paul's right hand. He flinched but otherwise didn't make a sound. Carefully, he pulled the rod off his hand. The wheel on the rod crushed his middle finger's nail. From the tip of the nail to the middle was a large crack. He covered his hand with his left and grimaced. "Shit," he managed to say. He took a look at his finger again and grimaced. He went into the house and saw John moving things away from the wall. "Psst," his whispered. "Bones, come here for a second."

John stopped what he was doing and walked over. "What's going on," he asked.

"I think I broke my finger," Paul whispered. He showed John his middle finger.

John looked at the finger and flinched. "Well, that looks nasty," he said. "Let's take a look at that." He poked and prodded Paul's finger and found no unusual movement. "Doesn't feel broken, your nail is broken though."

"So, what does that mean?"

"It means your nail will fall off. But don't worry, another nail grow in its place. There is something you can put on it but I don't think you have it here."

"I'll go find one, I just need you to move that K-car."

"Ok I'll be right back." John walked out the front door and walked over to the other driveway with the station wagon and the K-car. He took the keys out of his pocket and moved the K-car behind the station wagon.

The garage door opened and Paul pulled out in the blue electric vibe. Ichigo was with him. In the back seat were a tote bag and an air tank. "I'll be right back, you keep working on that little project of yours." He backed out of the driveway and drove off.

John walked up the driveway and into the garage. "How come I never noticed that thing before," he muttered. In the back of the garage was a motorcycle with a side car behind it. He walked over to it and checked the licence plate. Sure enough, it was the motorcycle he had seen on quarantine night.

The door to the house in the garage opened and Leona walked out. "There you are John," she said. "What's up?"

He pointed at the motorcycle. "I saw you," he said. "That night...quarantine...you were going against the flow of traffic."

"Really? Uh, I guess I wasn't paying attention to the people around us." She tugged on his sleeve. "Come on I need your help."

"Right," he said. He followed Leona back into the house.

Meanwhile, Amanda Holmes walked down the street. She had her blonde hair in a small ponytail and her green eyes protected by fake glasses. She had a satchel strapped across her left shoulder to her right side. She was wearing an old white shirt, and jeans. She wore leather sandals to avoid socks. She stopped at a two-story house. She jimmied the lock and walked in.

The house looked like they just got up and left. A thick layer of dust covered the furniture. Amanda walked through the living room into the kitchen. On the refrigerator was a calendar that was three years old with a date for leaving to the Finland Colony and a picture of a little girl and her dog. Inside the freezer Amanda found still edible freeze-dried fruit. In the kitchen she also found three cans of Spam, a box of Mac and Cheese and four containers of Ramen noodles. She put the food in her satchel and wandered around the house. The dining room was a wreck and there was a window broken in the bedroom. As she reached the stairs she stopped. "Cigarette smoke," she questioned. "Even after three years? That can't be right." Slowly she crawled up the stairs trying not to touch the blood spots. When she reached the top of the stairs, she found the source.

Sitting in the doorway of one of the bedrooms was the Darkseeker, Cigarette. His right leg was wrapped up in gauze from ankle to his knee. He was wearing shorts, a skeleton jacket, a grey shirt and black converse shoes. By his feet was an ashtray with a cigarette still smouldering in it. The Darkseeker was fast asleep.

Carefully, she crawled backwards down the stairs. She quietly and quickly left the house. She sighed. "That was close," she said. "I don't have any weapons with me. Just my lock picking tools." She continued down the street. "Oh, why the hell did I decide to stay here? This is no place for anyone to live anymore." She stopped and took a step back.

Sitting in the middle of the sidewalk was a Yellow Lab with a blue collar around its neck. It wasn't thin or wild. It was just sitting there like it was waiting for something. The dog noticed her and started wagging its tail.

"Hey, there fella," she said. She walked over to the dog and scratched its ears. "What's a good dog like you doing here?"

"Arrf," said the dog and looked over at the building next to them. It was a pharmacy with its security shutter up and door wide open.

"Did you escape from there or something," she asked the dog. "Yesterday that building was closed up." She turned around and nearly gasped.

Right in front of her was a car that wasn't there before. It was a mint condition Blue electric Vibe. "Maybe I could use this," she said. She looked into the passenger window. "This is perfect! The keys are still in the ignition." She reached for the door handle when she heard a gun go off. She quickly hid behind a nearby mailbox and looked back at the building.

Seconds later a man broke through the large glass window front. He had short brown hair and grey eyes. He was wearing a blue windbreaker with holes in the sleeves, a black shirt that read 'I do my own stunts', jeans and a pair of ADIDAS shoes. In one hand he had a large tote bag and in the other was an air tank. He walked past the dog, opened the rear passenger and put the bag and tank in the car. "That was a good days work, eh, Ichigo," he said to the dog. He moved his jacket aside revealing three grenades and a gun in the small of his back. He pulled the gun out and set it on the car. He turned around and faced the mailbox. "Ok, I am mostly unarmed, you can come out from behind the mailbox."

Amanda flinched. "How did he," she muttered. She walked over to him. "Uh, hi," she said.

He held out his right hand. "My name is Paul Artmen and this is my dog, Ichigo. It's nice to meet you."

She shook his hand. "I'm Amanda Holmes," she said. "And it was nice meeting you too." She let go of his hand and walked away.

"Wait," he called. "Where are you going?"

She stopped and turned around. "I'd love to stay and chat with you, Paul, but I need to find a place to stay." She continued to walk away.

"Well, why don't you just join me? You won't have to worry about that sort of thing. It would be fun. Not to mention you won't be alone anymore."

That made her stop walking.

He continued to talk. "It's one thing to just survive, it's another thing to have fun while surviving in hell." He smiled. "That's why I'm also called Hatter. I like to do things that are fun even if they are crazy."

_He acts more like a teenager than a man in his forties,_ she thought. _Even so he's better than no one._ She walked back to Paul. "Here, I'll do something crazy, too," she said. "I'll join your little gang."

"Great." He opened the front passenger door. "You can sit up here. Ichigo you're going to have to sit in the back." After they were in the car, he turned it on. "Oh, I hope you don't mind but I was thinking about going over to a pub for a little bit."

That's when she noticed his finger and the wrap on his other hand. "That's fine," she said after a minute. "What happened to your hand?"

"Which one? Well, I burned the back of my left on a flamethrower and I dropped a heavy steel rod on it. Don't worry I haven't been bitten like in some zombie movie." He drove well over the speed limit to the pub.

"This is where you live," she asked after walking into the pub with Ichigo behind her.

"No, I just like to hang out here," he said sitting in a chair.

"I see. So did what you do before all of this?"

"Huh?"

"Your job. What did you do for a living?"

"Oh, that." He threw a ball for Ichigo. "I use to be an electrician, I worked with the army and the city. How about you? What did you do?"

She smiled. "I was a school teacher. I taught second graders. It was so much fun. I miss them. I used to take pictures."

"Pictures are always fun.' That's when he thought of something. "Damn it. I forgot about that!"

"About what?"

"Uh, it's nothing."

At around five, they drove back to the duplex. "It's amazing," she said.

"It's cooler on the inside," he said.

When they went inside they were greeted by two people arguing

"It is too a word and I didn't cheat," snapped Leona.

"You did too cheat," growled John. "No 16-year old would know that word."

"I've got this," said Paul. He grabbed an old magazine and hit both of them on the head. "What is going on?!"

_No wonder he doesn't act like his age_, thought Amanda.

John pointed at Leona. There was a Scrabble board between them. "She's using a fake word or she looked it up in the dictionary."

"I did not look it up and it's a real word," snapped Leona.

"What word," Paul asked.

Leona pointed to it on the board. Vertical using the first letter of the first word Zombie was the word 'thiazole'.

Paul looked over at John. "That's a word and she knows it because her mother was a chemist."

"Told you," said Leona sticking out her tongue.

"Now," said Paul before you two continue your game, we have a new member." He motioned her over. "You two, this is Amanda Holmes."

"Hi," they both said.

"Amanda," said Paul. "The one in the Lab coat is Dr. John 'Bones' Silivo. The girl over here is my daughter Leona 'Leon' Artmen."

"I also go by the name Leo the Lion," Leona added. She stood up. "I'll be right back. Why don't I help you find a room, Amanda?"


	13. Bullet Wrath

Alucard's little sister: See first chapter and I don't own America (the band)

Editor Cain: Wow, another person. That makes four members of the Daredevils

Alucard's little sister: Like I said. No one is alone.

Bullet Wrath

Amanda grabbed a group of pictures from her satchel and placed them on the night stand by her bed. She decided to share a room with Leona instead of having her own room in the other house.

There was a knock at the door; it was John. "Hey Amanda, I was wondering if you would like to go with me to get a few things," he asked.

"Hang on for a sec," she said. She reached into her satchel, pulled out a digital camera and took his picture. "We could be writing history here. So, what kind of things were you planning on getting? And where are Paul and Leona?"

"Oh, Paul is at the power plant and Leona is walking Ichigo in the mall. And I was thinking of getting some computers from an office building to connect to the weather satellite. So, we'll know what the weather's like and be prepared. What do you say, will you help?"

She put the camera away. "Sure, I might be able to find a printer there, too."

"A printer?"

She shrugged. "You know for my pictures."

"I see, well, let's use the K-car."

At the ranch the blue-haired man called Grimm, sat in the middle of an empty living room using a computer. "Most people would think that the internet is gone. It's still here, just no one's updated it in three years." He put a sucker in his mouth. He used the internet to hack into a security camera of the Shipyard. He used it to look around. He gasped and nearly lost his sucker. "My car," cried Desmond standing up. "My K-car is gone! Who in the world took it?" he sighed and sat back down. "Well, I can't tell when it was taken from here, but man! I haven't seen it for three years but that's my tarp." He turned the computer off. He grabbed a bunch of daggers, and put two cuffs on with a knife on them. "I don't have time to figure that out right now." He walked out the door. "I need more supplies. Though whoever stole my car is going to pay. Even if it was Leo the Lion...which I doubt."

When they reached the large building, John sneezed.

"Bless you," said Amanda.

John parked the K-car in front of the office building by a parking meter. The two of them got out of the car. "Hey," said John pointing to the meter. "Do you want to pay for this or do I have to?"

"Huh? But, there are no more parking fines...or parking maids," said Amanda.

John tried not to laugh. "I'm sorry," he said. "I couldn't help it."

She crossed her arms. "That wasn't funny, John," she said. "No wonder Paul doesn't act is age."

John nearly fell over laughing at that. He opened the door to the office building. "Are you kidding me?! When we met that was what he did to me! Not with a parking meter but a 'Group rate for a ferry' so don't feel too bad. Plus, I don't think he's ever acted his age."

She followed him into the building. "Wait, when did you meet them?"

"Oh, a few days ago. I turned on a radio and heard their broadcast. So, I ran over and met Leona at the pub, then her Dad. Hang on." He ran over to the front desk, not paying attention to the floor he was walking on, found a radio and turned it on.

Leona's voice flooded the room. "Wasn't that fun? And, now before I go off to another stop..."

"She must be back at the base...or whatever you like to call it," said John.

"Here's a song for a new friend of mine named John," said Leona. "Enjoy."

_On the first part of the journey _

_I was looking at all the life _

_There were plants and birds and rocks and things _

_There was sand and hills and rings _

_The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz _

_And the sky with no clouds _

_The heat was hot and the ground was dry _

_But the air was full of sound _

_I've been through the desert on a horse with no name _

_It felt good to be out of the rain _

_In the desert you can remember your name _

_'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain _

_La, la..._

John turned red. "Gee, thanks, Leo," he muttered.

Amanda walked over to him. "What's that all about," she asked. "You don't like that song?"

"She's playing that song because I forgot my name," he said with a sigh. "I needed my driver's licence to remember what it was."

She patted his back. "That is sad. I'd turn red, too, if I were you." She turned around, nearly fell back and over the desk. "Bones! Did you see the floor!?"

_Oh, great, now she's calling me that,_ he thought. "No, I didn't, really, expect for the fact that there are no Darkseeker bodies. Why?"

"Just look."

He saw what she was looking at. In the middle of the title floor was a large puddle of dried blood. "That's disturbing," he said calmly. He walked through it to the elevator. He pushed the button and it dinged. "You coming?"

"B-b-but the blood. There's so much of it."

"It's easier if you don't think about it. Now come into the elevator. The computers are probably on the fourth floor."

"Yeah, sorry." She carefully avoided stepping on the pool of dried blood. "Do you think the rest of building is like that?"

"Hard to say." He pushed the button to the fourth floor.

Paul played with a yo-yo as he checked the power levels. "So bored," he said. "Two new people within days of each other. I wonder if we'll find one more person. I doubt it."

"How much are willing to bet," asked Leona walking into the room. She pulled her goggles down from around her eyes. "No, really, how much?"

He reached into his pocket pulled out his wallet and took out a 50 pound note. "I bet this much that no one else will join us in the next five days."

Leona took out a 50 pound note from her helmet. "I bet in the five days that someone will." She took Paul's money and hers and put it in her pocket. "I'll give it to John. He and Amanda went to that to Andrew & Lawson attorneys at law office building."

Paul dropped the yo-yo. "You know that's where we first met Bullet, right?"

"Shit," cried Leona. "I've gotta go. You can hang out at the pub today!" She ran out the door, got on a red moped, put her goggles around her eyes and drove off to the city.

The sun shined throughout the fourth floor of the building. The floor was a maze of cubicles and covered with dust.

The two of them left the elevator. "Well, it looks like we don't have to worry about Darkseekers here," said John.

"Just getting mindlessly lost," said Amanda.

"We can just knock over the cube-walls if that happens," he said. He walked into one of the cubicles. "Nope, just a PC, need laptops, they're easier to carry." He left that cubicle and moved on to another.

"I'll check on the other side of the room," Amanda said. She walked through the sea of cubicles peering in each until she found it. In the second to last cubicle was a photo printer in its box. On the box it had a completed repair order on it. On the desk by the printer was a laptop with a power cord. "Bones, come over here! I found a computer and a printer!"

A minute later John came over with two laptops in bags on each shoulder. "There's a bag under the desk," he said. "Then you can use both hands for the printer."

As soon as they reached the first floor Amanda spotted the security office. She gave the printer to John. "Hang on, I wantta check something out." She walked over to the door. She pulled out a bobby pin and unlocked the door. The room had several TVs, VCRs and one long table in the middle. On the left side of the door was an emergency power shut-down button. She walked along the TVs and VCRs and noticed a tape sticking out of the machine. The date the tape was being used for was crossed out and relabelled _Bullet says Hello_.

"That's a strange title for a security camera," said John setting the printer on the table. "Play it."

She turned the TV above the VCR on and put the tape in. "Ok, here we go."

The tape played right away. At first all it showed was a bunch of people in suits leaving the building three years ago. Then there was a skip in the video and the date was moved forward to last year's. Paul Artmen appeared on the tape. He had his handgun in his hands and he was slowly walking to the elevator.

A female Darkseeker quietly stalked him. It reached Paul and jumped on him and ran its nails down his back. There was no sound but it was obvious that Paul screamed. He hit the thing with the gun then fired a bullet. The thing ran off. Paul ran after it for a moment then turned to face the elevator.

The doors had opened and Bullet stepped out. John nearly ran out of the room at the sight of him. "That's the leader of the gang of Darkseekers, very bad news," John said.

"Oh," said Amanda.

On the tape Paul fired a shot at Bullet. Then another. He fell to his knee from the last attack. That's when he ran over and kicked him in jaw. Paul fell out of the camera's range.

"Oh, no," cried Amanda.

Before the tape could continue the power went off and emergency lights came on. John and Amanda turned to see Leona with her hand on the shut down button.

She took her hand off the button and pulled her goggles up onto her pilot helmet. "Guess I was a little late," she said. She walked over. "I thought you were just getting computers so, why are you here?"

John just stammered.

"I wanted to see if there was video on what made that giant puddle of blood," said Amanda.

"I didn't want to," John added.

"Sure," said Leona. She walked over and pulled the tape out. "I'm taking this back to its owner. I'll see you back at home. Don't speak about this." She left.

"I think she's mad at us," said Amanda.

"Speak for yourself," said John. "I didn't want to go in here. Now come on these laptops are hurting my shoulders."


	14. Bloody Hughes part 1

Alucard's little sister: see first chapter and I don't Filter (the band). This chapter starts with a Darkseeker moment like one of the other chapters. Oh, boy, it's going to have strange sentences

Editor Cain: It's your own fault for naming a Darkseeker Cigarette.

Alucard's little sister: I know, I know! Also this is a two part chapter because otherwise it would be really, really, long.

Bloody Hughes (part 1)

Leona drove through the city, passing the Paradise Hotel to a Large University. She walked down the dust-covered Science wing. She walked into a computer lab. The lab was dark with all the lights broken or missing. There were twenty computers in the room, all the computers and chairs were free of dust and one was on. Its glowing monitor filled the room with light.

There was someone in front of the computer, typing away. They did not notice Leona.

"I thought I told you to destroy this tape, Sean," she shouted.

Sean jumped. He swivelled around in his chair to face her. "Oh, hi, Leo, what's up?"

She threw the tape at him, giving him a bloody nose. "You know 'what's up'! I told you to destroy that security tape a year ago! So, why was it still in the VCR?!"

He pinched his nose closed to stop the bleeding. "Wow, tell me how you really feel about it, Leo," he snapped. "So I didn't get around to it. Besides, Madam Butterfly told me not to."

Leona sighed. "Fine, keep it, just keep it out of my sight."

He put the tape by the computer and grabbed a bunch of tissues. He stuffed them up his nose and swivelled back to the computer. "Oh, boy, I hope she doesn't stay made at me for too long. Though she's very cute when she's mad." He started typing again. He glanced over at the tape. "She has a point though. If I were her I'd want it burned too," he grumbled out loud.

In the two story house, Cigarette woke up. He got up, stretched, and limped out of the door frame and into the room. He grabbed a black suit, put it on, and grabbed a pack out of the pocket. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He limped back to the doorframe and sat back down. He blew out a puff of smoke. Hey, Mutt! Are you up yet?

Give me a sec. Called another. From another room came another Darkseeker. He was dressed in a black hoodie and black pants. He was carrying a small first aid kit. Fine, I'll patch you up again, just remember it was your own damn fault.

Whatever. Like I care. By the way were the hell is Silencer. Isn't it his job to do patch me up?

He don't talk no more, so hell if I know where he went. Think he misses that military girl in that group. Said Mutt taking the old gaze from around Cigarette's leg.

A pillow flew through the air and hit Mutt. Use more grammar, you moron. Snapped Bullet as he walked up the stairs. Those stupid scouts have no grammar.

Sorry....a...bout....that....

Cigarette blew out a puff of smoke. Be nice to Mutt. He is half insane and is still getting used to talking again.

Thanks....sir

Bullet rolled his eyes. Sure fine. Just think more before you speak. I hate hearing them talk without good grammar. Sig, when will you be able to walk without a limp?

Cigarette took a drag. Silencer wrote that would probably be the day after tomorrow.

Good. That's when we will attack Grimm. That daywalker has been a thorn in our side for too long. I have a plan to get into his house and kill him.

Cigarette blew out a puff of smoke. I can not wait.

Paul sighed. "Must we do this," he asked. "I hate getting my picture taken."

Amanda lowered her camera. "It's for future generations. I'm sure people will want to remember the brave souls who stayed in London when the world went to hell in a hand basket."

Leona walked into the living room with a tripod stand. "Use this and everyone can be in the picture," she said.

"Et tu Leon," cried Paul. "Again, I hate having my picture taken." He turned to John, sitting on the couch. "Bones, do something!"

John stood up. "We should take a picture by this wall so as not to show too much clutter."

"Fine, I know when I've lost," growled Paul. "Just make this quick."

Leona grabbed Momo and Ichigo. "These two should be in this too," she said.

Amanda set up the camera, then stood next to Paul and John. "Say cheese."

"Cheese," everyone said as the picture was taken.

Leona set Momo down as Amanda checked the camera. "It came out great, though," she said, "I think it would have been better if I had my camera I left at the school, along with several scrap books."

"Do you know where they are at were you worked," asked Leona.

Amanda looked up from the camera. "Yeah, I do why?"

"If you tell me how to get there, I'll take you. We can go get them." She grabbed her hunting rifle. "Amanda, what do you think? Would you like to go?"

"If you feel up for it."

Paul collapsed on the couch. "Just leave me out of it and come home," he said.

John sat in a chair and grabbed a book. "Same here. I really don't want to go anywhere. Good luck though."

Leona put on her converse shoes, pilot helmet and goggles. "Just one second." She walked over to the iPod and played a song. She walked over to the door. "Let's go, Amanda."

Amanda followed Leona. "See you boys later."

"We'll take the station wagon," said Leona pulling the keys from her pocket.

Amanda got in the driver's side. "Fine but I'm driving. And, John told me that this was a backwards car."

"Dang, I like driving," she said getting into the passenger's side.

"You're only 16!" Amanda turned the car on.

"You're point." She turned on the radio and sang along with the song playing.

_I don't believe in _

_I don't believe in _

_Sanctity a hypocrisy_

_Could everyone agree that no one should be left alone_

_Could everyone agree that they should not be left alone, yeah_

_And I feel like a newborn_

_And I feel like a newborn _

_Kicking and screaming_

_Could you take my picture_

_Cause I won't remember_

_Could you take my picture_

_Cause I won't remember_

_Could you take my picture_

_Cause I won't remember_

_Could you take my picture_

_Cause I won't remember _

_Yeah_

Amanda quietly drove to her old work place, a public London elementary school. The school was on the outskirts of the city. When they arrived at the school, an hour later it was 4'o clock.

The school was just like many buildings in London. The windows were broken and some had burned scorches around them. The ivy plants were wild and had taken over half of the walls.

"You know where you're going right," asked Leona as she loaded her gun.

"Yeah, just follow me," Amanda said.

Leona followed Amanda through the broken front doors and quietly down the corridors to the teacher's office. Amanda had to lock-pick the door open.

The teacher's office was a mess. Papers littered the floor. Some of the desks were tipped over and the drawers were up against the wall. The small window was the only source of light in the room. Amanda walked over to one of the few desks that seemed untouched. On top of the desk was a high power Canon camera. She picked it up and put it in her satchel she brought along. She opened the top drawer and pulled out five scrap books. She put four of them in her bag and flipped through the fifth one. "Where were you during the last boat run," she asked Leona as she walked over to her.

"At home in the duplex," said Leona. "Where were you?"

Amanda showed her a page in the scrapbook. "I was on top of the highest building taking pictures with my camera. I came back here afterwards to print the pictures, but I had to leave everything behind because there were those things chasing me."

"I found Bones," said Leona pointing to a picture.

"Huh?!" She looked at the picture Leona was pointing at. It took her a moment before she got it.

Nearly in the centre of the picture was John in his bright, white coat. From the picture, it looked like he was trying to get out of there.

Amanda tried not to laugh. "He's like Waldo; he's hard to find but after you do he sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm starting to see him in a few more pictures."

While they looked at the pictures, they didn't notice the scout walking into the doorway. It spotted them and screamed.

Intruders! Invaders! Wake up! It screamed making the two of them jump. With the pipe in its hand, it started banging on the heating vent on the wall.

It continued to bang the vent until Leona shot it in the head with her hunting rifle. She grabbed Amanda's arm. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

The two of them headed for the front, but found it was already blocked by Darkseekers. They turned quickly around and ran down the corridor passed the teachers office.

Leona turned around a few times to shoot a few of the oncoming horde. In the corner of her eye, she saw someone outside watching them. She waved her arms hoping it wasn't a figment of her imagination. "To the gym," she cried. She pushed the double doors opened and ran in. When Amanda was in the gym, Leona started shooting anything that tried to get in the double doors.

"Do you have enough bullets," Amanda asked.

"Yeah, I'm good with bullets," Leona said. "We just need to find a way out." She kept reloading and firing until a snap came from inside the gun. Leona looked down at it. "Shit," she cried, "it had to do this now?!"

Amanda backed into the back wall. "What?! What happened?! What was that sound," she cried in panic.

Leona threw the gun away and ran over to Amanda. "Good news, the horde is down from twenty to eleven. Bad news, my hunting rifle's spring to load the gun broke."

Amanda bit her nails. "Now what do we do?"

Leona pulled out a grenade from her pocket and a hand gun from the small of her back. "There is the afterlife special, but I really, really, don't want to use that. Unless you want me to."

"If you don't want to use it, then don't." She looked around and noticed a rope daggling nearby. "Maybe we could use the climbing ropes to get up to the rafters."

"Then what?"

"I don't know."

The remaining Darkseekers were getting closer. They had the two surrounded on all sides. Mouths were dripping with drool and blood.

"It looks like we have to use the Afterlife special," said Leona sadly.

That's when four large daggers' came sailing through the air from the rafters above them. Each dagger hit a Darkseeker in the head killing them. The remaining eight took a big step back.

"Lone Wanderer to the rescue," shouted a male voice from the rafters.

Everyone looked up to see someone jump. The figure landed on two Darkseekers, his hands on each of their heads. He jumped off them and the others took another step back.

He was wearing a black shirt, a black bullet proof vest that had the word police on it, black pants, and combat boots. On his belt he had six holsters for six daggers (four were missing), on his wrists were armbands with daggers sticking out of them. He had two piercings on his right eyebrow, his eyes were a gold-yellow and his wild hair was blue in colour. He took a step forward. "Boo," he screamed and the six remaining Darkseekers ran away as fast as they could. He pulled the daggers out of the Darkseeker. He wiped the blood off with the Darkseeker's clothes before putting them back. He walked over to an emergency fire exit door. "Come on, before they realize they can out number me and they come back with reinforcements," he said.

Leona put the grenade and the hand gun away as they followed the man out of the school.

"Thank you," said Amanda.

"No problem," he said.

Leona looked at her watch and grabbed Amanda. "We have a problem.," she whispered. "It's late, in fact if we go back around to the front of the building, get the car and drive over to the duplex at full speed we won't make it. By the time we get there, the metal shutters will be closed and my dad will not open them for anything."

"So, what do we do," Amanda asked.

"There's only one thing to do," said Leona. She walked over to the man in the combat gear. "You wouldn't mind if we come with you to your base? We need a place to stay for the night."

He shrugged. "I don't see why not," he said. "Sure. Just follow me."


	15. Bloody Hughes part 2

Alucard's little sister: see first chapter.

Editor Cain: Now on with the story.

Bloody Hughes (part 2)

"So, Paul," asked John looking at a large box of grenades with a sign that read 'Afterlife Special' on it. "Why are these ones named the Afterlife special."

"Simple," said Paul picking one up. "When they were making these grenades, they over stuffed them making the explosion larger than a normal grenade. However, pulling the pin will not set them off because they are too stuffed."

"So, what do you do with them?"

"Shot them and they explode. There's only one problem, unless you're using a sniper rifle you will get caught in the blast. It's a last resort weapon. For example, if you are surrounded on all sides by Darkseekers and you have the special grenade and one bullet left, you simply let them get really close put the grenade next to you and pull the trigger on the gun pointing at the grenade and boom. Not only do you die but you take out a whole bunch of Darkseekers with you. Hence, the name 'Afterlife Special', it takes you and the Darkseekers to the afterlife."

John inched away from the box. "That's horrible!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Leona and I both have one. And that's why I think Jenny is dead because last time I saw her she had one too."

John was still horrified. "You made your own daughter carry one of these suicide weapons?"

Paul chuckled. "No, it was _her_ idea. She thought about doing this after she shot one and nearly singed my eyebrows off."

"I hope they don't have to use it then."

"I'm sure they won't."

Leona and Amanda followed a young, blue-haired man down the road to a small ranch house with an overgrown yard, Darkseeker heads on pikes.

"Are you sure about this," whispered Amanda to Leona. "I mean, what if he's a cannibal?"

"We'll be fine, don't worry about it," Leona whispered back.

When he reached the walkway to the front door, he stopped and turned around. "Ok, you're going to follow me to a 'T' because underneath these pebbles are bear traps. There are also a ton of bear traps in the yard, so stay off the grass." He carefully zigzagged down the walkway with Leona and Amanda following right behind.

"You guys go on in," he said looking at a large bell by the door. "I need to take care of something."

"Ok," said Leona. She opened the door and walked into the ranch house.

"Did I mention I don't really like this," whispered Amanda when she entered the house. "He could be planning on killing us or something."

Leona rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure, he saved us to kill us," she said. "Do you know how stupid that sounds?"

He took the large bell down, reached into a bush by the door and pulled out an automatic pistol. He loaded it and put it where the bell was. He walked into the house and locked the front door.

Amanda looked over at him. "Please don't tell me you live in this really empty house by yourself."

"Yes and no," he said. "I don't really live in this house but I do live here alone." He walked over to the corner of the empty living room. He pulled up a hatch. "I live down here. Ladies first."

Leona walked over and down the ladder. Amanda hesitantly followed.

When they were below he walked down slightly, grabbed the hatch door and closed it. He made sure it was locked before going to the bottom. "What do you think," he asked them. "I know it's a bit on the small side but I don't have to worry about those freaks down here."

"Is this some kind of fallout shelter," asked Amanda.

"No," said Leona quickly. "It's a panic room. You can tell by the rows of monitors. Right?"

He just nodded.

Amanda realized something. "I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, right," he said. He pointed to himself with his thumb. "I'm the one and only Desmond Hughes, former leader of the Fireflies."

Leona clapped her hands. "I knew you looked familiar," she cried. "You were that 18 year-old that blew up that old farm house near the edge of that little town."

"So, you watched the news, eh," said Desmond. "But in case you were wondering, there was a gas leak in that house and we didn't know about it until the whole damn house blew up."

"You're kidding right," cried Amanda.

"No," he walked into a little room and came back wearing a trench coat. "This coat looks like a normal coat but it's actually made out of the same material that firefighters jacket's are. So, even though it looks like a regular trench coat, it's actually a firefighter's. My friend was able to make them so we didn't set ourselves on fire." He took it off and held it out. "Pretty cool no? Try it on if you like."

Leona took it and tried it on. It was a little bigger than it looked on him. "This is so cool. I wish I had one."

"Wait, in the news it said you set three houses on fire which included the farm house but that isn't true is it," asked Amanda.

"That's right, my team and I set more like thirteen fires. They were all deemed electrical or environmental because we never used an accelerant like gasoline in any fire we set. The only reason I was charged with the other two houses was because there were witnesses. So, anyway I told you, my name but you haven't told me yours yet."

"I'm Amanda Holmes," said Amanda.

"And I'm Leona Artmen," said Leona. "But I also go by the name Leo the Lion."

A look of surprise ran across his face. He turned around and walked into the other room again.

"What was that about," Amanda asked.

"I don't know," said Leona. "Maybe he listens to the radio."

Desmond came back into the room with an envelope. "Here, I know it's late but, these are the songs in your Ironic hour thing," he said. "See, I thought it was just an old recording from the first year after quarantine. After all, I was in segregation for almost that whole year and then I didn't get a working radio until four months ago."

"Today is the last day," said Leona. She took the envelope and opened it. She read it.

"Well," he asked nervously.

"You won," she said. "You got them all right."

He jumped. "I did it! I knew it! I'm the king of music. So, what did I win?"

"You get to make an hour playlist for the radio."

"That's the coolest thing ever. I've got an idea for one already." He clapped his hands together. "Anyway, here's a quick tour. This is the main room, the TVs on the left are all the monitors for the inside and outside of the house, and on the right is a flat screen TV with video games." He walked over and pulled up a wall, near the security monitors, to reveal a bathroom. "This is the bathroom." He closed it down. "Follow me. He walked over to a small hallway with two rooms. "The room to my left is my room. There is also a table in there. The other room is for weapons, food and other supplies. I know it's small but you two can stay in there for tonight."

Leona walked in. "I like the pickaxe," she said.

Amanda looked at a shelve with shower supplies. "So, where's the dye?"

"What dye," asked Desmond.

Amanda pointed at his blue hair. "The dye to keep that hair of yours blue like that."

Desmond was stunned. "No, uh, this isn't," he tried to say.

"He had his hair altered to grow out blue," said Leona. She pointed to her own head. "I did that too right before you had to 21 to permanently change hair colour. My hair use to be brown."

"That's right," said Desmond. "That and I had my eyes done to look gold-yellow otherwise it would have looked strange."

"Oh, I see," said Amanda. "Well, what now?"

"Dinner, then, maybe some games, and then bed," said Desmond. "Or at least that's what I do."

"On a different note, would you like to join us? I mean this place is nice but, our place is bigger, two duplexes, which means we also have more supplies too. But most importantly people. There are four of us living there. So, what do you say?"

Desmond thought about it for a moment. "If you let me keep the car in the garage and bring my stuff then yeah, you got yourself a new member."

"Sweet."

The next day, John paced back and forth in the kitchen. "They haven't come back yet," he cried. "You don't think Leona used that thing do you?"

Paul looked up from a book he was reading. "You can go and see if they're not back in four days," he said then went back to his book.

"That's too long." John collapsed in a chair. "You're way too calm, Paul."

"Whatever."

The land-line phone on the wall rang making John jump and nearly fall over. Paul reached over and picked up the phone. "Daredevil headquarters, Leader Paul Artmen speaking, how may I help you," he said to the phone.

"Who made you the leader," said Leona over the phone.

"Seniority," he said. "I'm the oldest in this group and have been in the military. So how are you two?" He mouthed 'Leona' to John.

"We're fine, my hunting rifle broke though," she said. "We'll be a little late but we're on our way. Oh, and..."

"Quit messing with me and get back here," Paul snapped at the phone and slapped it back on the hook.

"What's going on," John asked him.

"She said she won the bet," he said. "There is no way in hell she won so damn quickly."

Leona hung up the phone in the kitchen. "Well, He woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

Desmond walked over. He was wearing his Firefly Trenchcoat, the 'Shh! I'm an Assassin' shirt, jeans and combat boots. "Everything's out of the panic room and ready to be packed into your car," he said. "Did you just use the phone?"

"Yeah, it still works. Only land-lines though. Cordless phones are still useless." She walked outside and opened the trunk to the station wagon. She pulled the cover off for the spare tire. In the middle of the spare tire was a red gas container. She gave to Desmond. "That should be enough for any car to reach the base from here."

The three of them packed the station wagon with Desmond's video games, food supplies, and weapons. By the time they were done there was only enough room in the Wagon for two people.

"Good thing you have a car," said Leona.

"Yeah," he said. He opened the garage. "Though the gas tank is empty, only running on fumes." He turned the car on and backed it out.

Leona gasped. "No way." The car was a sleek black police car. "Could I drive that?"

Desmond turned it off. "Sure, I guess, you know where we're going," he said. "Anyway, you full that car up, I've got to take care of one more thing." He ran back into the house before anyone could say anything. He walked across the living room into a hallway with the bedrooms. In each of the four doorframes he set up a tripwire. He opened a large closest door and found the furnace. He found the hose that supplied gas to the furnace and pulled it enough for gas to start leaking from a seam. He set some tripwires in the living room, kitchen and in the door frame of the front door before walking into a small room across from the garage with utility sink, and the washer and dryer. He jumped onto the dryer and grabbed the hose that supplied it with gas and with a switchblade put a slice in it, letting gas leak out. As he left the room he set up another tripwire. Each tripwire was connected to something that would spark when the tripwire broke. He walked outside. "Ok, I'm ready to go."


	16. The plan fails

Alucard's little sister: See last chapter. I guess you can say that this is the conclusion to the last two chapters. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I don't own Nintendo, Hannah-Barbara, DC or Hasbro.

Editor Cain: I've nothing to add to that.

The plan fails

**Six months after quarantine **

Desmond played on an old GameBoy Colour. There was nothing left to do in the small cell the guards left him in. The food supply in the cell was getting low. It was just enough, if stretched out, to last three more months. He sighed. "I didn't plan this right," he muttered. "Set a fire under my roommate's bed to get in here and away from general population but, I CAN'T FIND A WAY OUT!" He turned the game system off and set it down. "Now what?"

The lights went out making him jump and the red emergency lights came on. "No, really what's going on?" He stood up and walked over to the door and pushed it. The door opened with a click. When the power went out, all of the doors unlocked. He quietly walked out of the door. He looked around at the other doors then ran over to an office. That's when he found a riot suit with a helmet. He switched from the prison garb and put on the riot suit. He grabbed a baton, a hand gun and the keys to the evidence locker. "If I'm going to get out of here, I'm going to need a car and the best way to get a car is through the main office." He unlocked the door to the general population. He quietly walked out of the small office and made sure that the door didn't slam. He looked down the hall and took a deep breath.

Every cell on the three floors were open. There were Darkseekers running in and out of cells.

"Good thing I took track," he muttered. He bolted across the hall. The Darkseekers didn't seem to notice him as he ran down the hall into the main office of Building C. He crawled under a large computer panel. "That...was...close..." he gasped. He put his hand down on the ground then quickly back up. There was blood covering his hand. He looked down to see a very large puddle of blood in the corner. "Just what I need," he said bitterly.

The office had one large computer that monitored the inmates and controlled the cell doors. It took up two walls in the office. Across from where he sat was the only way to get out of the prison. On the wall next to him was a board with keys for other buildings and flashlights.

He was about to get out from under the computer when exit doors burst open. He hid as best he could by running his blood covered hand down his face and pretending to be dead.

Bullet, Cigarette and Silencer walked into the room. Bullet walked across the room until he was right in front of Desmond. The Alarms are off, right.

I think you have no memory, Sir snapped Silencer. These alarms won't turn on. You can unlock all the main gates and let these crazies out.

Bullet looked down at Desmond. Who's this? He kicked Desmond lightly.

To keep up the facade he fell over like a dead body, carefully making sure he didn't hit his head too hard on the floor.

Cigarette took a drag from a cigarette, and then flicked it at Desmond. Just some dead riot officer. Just leave it, Sir, we have more important things to do.

When they left Desmond crawled out from under the computer, wiped the blood off his face and hands on another dead riot officer. He grabbed another set of keys and a flashlight before running out into the yard. The yard was empty as he ran from Building C to Building A with the contraband/evidence locker inside. He took a five minute breather in another office before running into the locker.

The contraband/evidence locker was a large size room with large floor to ceiling cages filled with clothes, weapons and cell phones. He walked over to one of them and took a duffle bag before locking it again. He took everything out of the bag before opening another cage. Inside the cage were his Firefly Trench coat, favourite shirt, and black combat boots. He put them into the duffle bag then ran into the central booking office.

The central booking office was a large room with several benches, a wall with five phones and a large desk to fingerprint people. He dropped his two sets of keys and picked up a set of keys for a police car. He grabbed a pole, that made a line form, and blocked the door to the prison as Darkseekers started charging at it. Desmond ran out the front doors into the parking lot. He found the police car the keys belonged to and got in the driver's side. As soon he sat down and closed the door, he fell asleep.

The next day Desmond was relieved to find himself waking up. The Darkseekers didn't find him in the car. He sighed. "That was close."

"I'll say," said another person.

Desmond jumped nearly hitting the ceiling of the car. He turned to see another guy in a Riot Gear suit without the helmet.

The guy looked about two years older than Desmond. His blonde hair was in a Mohawk, he had one piercings in each ear, two on his left eyebrow, and one on the left side of his lower lip. He took Desmond's helmet off and threw it onto the floor on the passenger side, which made Desmond flinch.

"Hi, Bruce," Desmond said nervously. "How's it going?"

Bruce smiled. He grabbed Desmond's nose with his thumb and index finger and pulled Desmond's head into the steering wheel then let go.

Desmond covered his nose with his hand and tilted his head back. "Ow!"

"That's what you get for trying to set me on fire," Bruce snapped. "That was stupid! If you stuck with me escape would have been easier. You need to trust others a little more. Oh, by the way, you left the door unlocked. You're lucky these monsters don't think and thought you were dead." He held out a key on a key ring. "If you take me to the University by Paradise Hotel then you can have this key to a ranch house on the outskirts of London. This ranch house has bear traps in the front yard, a pit with spikes in the backyard and a panic room for a basement. Deal?"

"Deal," said Desmond. He turned the car on and drove away from the prison.

**Present day**

"I can see why you wanted to keep this car," said Leona as they zoomed down the road to the duplex. Amanda was following behind them in the station wagon. "This is so cool."

"It also has a megaphone on the roof," said Desmond.

"That gives me an idea. Just to mess with John."

"We seem to be a strange group of survivors," he said. "A teacher, a student doctor, an electrician, a 16-year-old and now me, a pyromaniac."

"You forgot two," said Leona. "There's also a yellow lab and a cat."

"Oh."

Leona turned the siren off. She pulled onto the street and in front of the duplex. "Don't say anything, I just want to do something," she whispered to Desmond. She got out of the car with the walkie talkie connected to the megaphone. She took a moment to compose herself. "Paul 'Mad Hatter' Artmen," she said, "this is the Police! You are completely surrounded, come out with your hands up and no one will get hurt!"

Amanda got out of the station wagon after parking it behind the squad car. "Leona, what are you doing," she asked.

"Shh," snapped Desmond.

"Never," shouted Paul from inside the duplex.

"Don't make use the grenade," Leona said.

Paul walked out of the front door. "Oh, hey, Leon, nice car," he said. He pointed at Desmond. "What's with the Smurf?

"That's Jokey Smurf to you, Mad Hatter," said Desmond.

Paul smirked. "Good one," he said. "Leon, park the police car next to the K-car in the other driveway and Amanda, park the station wagon in this garage and we'll all unpack it tomorrow."

"You got it," said Leona. She and Desmond got in to the police car and parked it next to a K-car.

Desmond took one look at the K-car and shot an angry finger at it. "Hey! That's my car!" He looked over at Leona. "Why do you have it?"

Leona smiled nervously. "Uh, it was an emergency...sorry?"

Desmond sighed. "Fine, I'll let it slide." He grabbed her head and gave her a noogie. "That's for not telling me sooner though."

She covered the top of her head with her hands. "Oh, ok," she said. "Ok, I show you around and you can pick out a room."

"Ok."

That night, Bullet, Cigarette, Mutt, and a hyper-active female Darkseeker lead an army of fifteen Darkseekers to the ranch. They stood in the middle of the road. Bullet turned to his army. Go in through the garage. There are no traps in there or to get there. Bring me the blue-haired Grimm in one piece! I want to torture him myself!

Yesssss! They all cried. The fifteen Darkseekers ran into the garage door and broke it down.

Cigarette reached into a pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He put it in his mouth and searched his pockets for a match. Shit. Any of you have a light?

No. said Bullet.

Lightbulb? asked the girl.

No, stupid! A match to light a cigarette! No wonder those daywalkers call you Monkey.

Someone tapped Cigarette's shoulder. He turned to see Silencer with a match in hand. Silencer was wearing a green shirt that read 'Zombieway: Eat flesh', jeans with holes in the knees and a satchel, black with red stripe, and duct-taped converse shoes ,one black and the other orange.

Thanks, do you have another one?

Silencer shook his head. He opened his bag searched through a sea of batteries and pulled out binoculars. He looked through them, then handed them to Cigarette.

What? He looked though the binoculars at the front door and noticed the large bell by the door. Sh-

Inside the ranch, a Darkseeker tripped a tripwire. The spark the tripwire caused set both the furnace and dryer on fire making them both explode. The house, in turn, exploded, setting the houses on either side on fire. The house on the right of the ranch house set another house on fire, which exploded due to another gas leak in that house.

Bullet and the others were thrown back inches in front of the porch of the house across the street.

Monkey was laughing. Big boom! Big boom! Again! Again!

Cigarette grabbed another cigarette from his pocket, picked up a piece of burning house and lit his cigarette. Heck of a trap. He said.

No wonder Garage not have bear traps. said Mutt. He dead?

Silencer grabbed a white board and wrote: 'he probably didn't sleep in that house at all. It was all a trap the whole time most likely.'

What he wrote said Cigarette. That makes sense.

Damn it! Bullet snapped. He stormed off followed by Monkey, still laughing, Mutt, and Cigarette.

Silencer watched the fires. He put the binoculars and white board back into his bag. "Maybe I should have told him that Grimm left with Leo and someone else," he said. "For that matter, I wonder where my old pal Bruce is."

The explosion echo could be heard as far away as the Daredevils headquarters. Paul looked up from the board game. "What was that?"

Desmond threw the dice. "Seven," he called and he got a seven. "Yes!" He moved his battleship piece onto free parking. "I'm rich! You are all doomed now!"

"Was I hearing things," asked Paul, "because I could have sworn I heard an explosion."

Desmond picked up the money in the middle. "No, you heard it. It was my old ranch house exploding. I set a trap for those freaks, but I didn't think it would go off so soon."

"Really," said Paul.

"That's horrible," cried Amanda.

"That's nothing," said Desmond as Leona took her turn. "I'd wander around to find houses that had Darkseekers in it and set it on fire. That way they only have two options burn in the fire or burn in the sun."

"Wow," said John. "Diabolical."

Paul thought about something. "For that, from now on your nickname, Desmond, will be Joker," said Paul. "And Amanda, your nickname will be Macintosh, because you're a teacher."

"Joker, eh," said Desmond. "Yeah, I like that."

"Why do we need nicknames," asked Amanda.

"For fun," said Leona.

Paul clapped his hands together. "I have an announcement to make. There are five of us which means that we are officially a small group. We can call this the Daredevil Headquaters."


	17. Ghosts

Alucard's little sister: See last chapter. You know I almost didn't write this one because it gives so much away.

Editor Cain: Not really, it's a very shocking and important chapter.

Alucard's little sister: If you say so

Ghosts

**Seven days before quarantine **

"...new rules state that everyone must be tested for the virus before going to the dock is now being strictly enforced," said a male news reporter on the radio, "with arm bands. If you don't have an armband, you can't be near the docks."

"Can you explain the armbands for us," said a female news reporter on the radio, "so listeners better understand them."

"Sure, Infectious Disease Control, IDC for short, made two armbands to make things easier," he said. "One is black with a skull and crossbones with a kind of outline of an explanation mark. This armband means that the person is infected with the virus. They say that these people have seven days before the virus takes full affect. The second armband is green with a smiley face and a check mark. That means that you are fine and probably immune to it."

Anthony turned the radio off. "We don't need to hear that," he said. "Now, let me take a look at Mittens."

A woman in her late forties set a cat carrier onto the table. She pulled out a black and white year-old cat with white paws. "She just needs a health check," she said. "Does she need to be checked for that virus?"

"Indoor or outdoor cat," he asked.

"Indoor cat only," said the woman. "If she was an outdoor cat I'd be too worried that Mittens could get run over by a car."

He got a rabies shot ready. "Then no, Mittens doesn't need to be tested unless you want her to be tested. The main animals that need to be tested are chickens, monkeys, rats, mice and pigs. There are rumours that cats and dogs could get it by eating an infected animal but I don't think that's true because I've treated several cats that have eaten infected rats and mice and they haven't gotten." He gave Mittens the shot. "In fact, I really don't think anyone really knows anything about this virus."

"I know," she said. "I'm just glad I can leave on a ferry today," pointing to her green armband.

When the appointment was over Anthony wiped off the table and walked into the waiting room. "May, June, anymore appointments today.

May and June were identical twins that looked exactly alike and dressed the same as well. The only way to tell them apart was their hair. May kept her brown hair in pigtails while June kept her hair in a ponytail. Both were wearing the green armbands.

June checked the computer. "Nope that was the last one for today," she said.

"Then you two go home," he said. "I don't want either one of you getting caught out in the dark."

"Not a problem," said May.

The two of them got up from the reception desk and walked out the door passed two severely dressed men.

The two men walked into the Vet clinic. One had a green armband and the other had the black armband that blended in to his black suit.

The one with the black armband took a cigarette from his pocket. "You don't mind if I smoke do you?"

"No," said Anthony. "So, how may I help you two?"

The man lit his cigarette and took a drag. He nudged the other. "Henry, you tell him. I told the last guy," he said.

"I get it, I get it, Sig," Henry snapped. He cleared his throat. "As you know, we are from IDC. You are Anthony Potter, correct."

"Yes, I am," said Anthony. "What's going on?"

"We have your test results," said Henry. He sighed. "I'm sorry, but you have tested positive for the virus."

Sig reached into another pocket and pulled out a black armband. "By law you must wear this," he said. "If it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel. Sorry. You have about seven days to get everything in order. Good-day."

"Good-day," said Anthony.

The two men left the clinic. Sig put his cigarette out and lit another one. "I don't what's worse; knowing this virus may kill me or knowing it may just make me into some sort of mindless zombie thing."

"I would think that knowing I couldn't do a thing about it is worse," said Henry. "You are smoking an awful lot lately."

"I'm infected, so who cares," said Sig. He blew a puff of smoke into Henry's face. "I'm doing my own experiment. I'm trying to see even if I go crazy would I still smoke."

"But if you go crazy, how will you know if it works."

Sig merely shrugged.

Anthony put the armband on and sighed. "Oh, crap in a fucking hat." He locked up the clinic and walked home. He got strange looks and glares as he walked. "Will you leave me alone," he snapped at a woman at a bus stop who was staring at him. When he got home he was greeted by Shakespeare, his Great Dane puppy.

"Arf, arf," barked the puppy.

"Now, what the hell am I going to do?"

It was eight 'o clock when Paul came home. He hung his car keys on the ring. He took the gun from the small of his back and put it on the top shelf of the closet.

Julia, Paul's wife, came over from the kitchen. "I wish you wouldn't stay so late at work. You know there are monsters that come out at night."

"I don't care," he said. "I'm not afraid of the dark."

"It's not the dark you should be afraid of, Dear!"

"I'm not afraid of those freaks either. Why do you think I got permission to keep this handgun? I'll be fine."

"And what about our daughter? What do you think will happen to her if you get killed by those things?"

"She'd still have you, Honey."

Julia took few steps away from him. She looked away and put her right hand on her left arm. "Sorry, but, I was tested and, unlike you and Leona, I'm infected. I only have seven days."

He ran his fingers through his hair and sat on a sofa in the family room. "I see," was all he said after a few minutes.

"Promise me you'll take care of Leona and go to the Finland colony."

"No."

She blinked at him. "No? What do you mean no?"

"I'm not going to some colony. There is no point. Those things are everywhere. The colonies are overpriced military bases. So, I'm staying here. If she wants she can go with her friends to the colony because I'm not leaving this city."

"That's suicide! And do you really want Leona to grow up without her parents?"

"It will be fine. I grew up with no parents and if she goes to the colony, she'll have her friends' parents. Trust me."

The next day Paul cleaned his motorcycle. As he did this, Leona walked over and stood next to him. "Why are you not at school," he asked without looking away from the bike.

"They cancelled it indefinitely because most students and teachers have left for the Finland Colony or the other colonies," she said. "I was just thinking about hanging out with my friends."

"Ok, but before you go, I need to ask you something," he said. "I'm staying here. There's no point to going anywhere. Now, if you would like, you can go to the colony with your friends or..."

"I'll stay. Someone has to help you stay sane."

He turned and gave her a dark look. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"What, you don't watch post-apocalyptic movies. Lone survivor starts off fine but then starts talking to inanimate objects like the mannequin in the department stores. Not to mention to yourself. So, Ichigo and I will stay with you so that doesn't happen." She smiled. "In fact, I bet you ten pounds you won't recognize yourself three years from now."

"I doubt that...and no betting, you know I don't condone betting of any kind."

"We shall see about that."

Anthony looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was already beginning to become thin and wiry. He sighed. "Oh, crap," he said. "I didn't think it would start so quickly." He put his coat on and drove to work. He was greeted by the twins.

"How are you doing today," asked May.

"Are you two going to the colony," he asked them.

They looked at each other. "Well, Mom and Dad are going today, but we were thinking of going tomorrow. Why," said June.

He opened the back door and looked at the five animals still in need of a home. There were three cats and two dogs all whose owners died of the virus. "I want you two to take these animals with you to the Finland Colony. I'm sure you two can find homes for them. I also want you two to leave today. I'm closing up as of today."

"I'll get right on that," said June. She walked into the back room to put the animals in carrier cages.

"But I thought you were going to take them," said May.

He showed her his armband. "Because I'm not going anymore," he said. "Also could you take Shakespeare as well?"

May shook her head as a tear welled up in her eyes. "No...I can't..." she ran into the other room before he could say anything more.

Leona met up with her three friends in the parking lot to the dock. "Harry, Chuck, Mike," said Leona. "I'm glad you three haven't left yet."

"Our parents left on the 10:15am boat," said Harry. "We decided to wait for you and leave on the 12:30 boat. So, are you going with us or staying here?"

"I'm going to stay here with my dad," said Leona.

"Well, then, you might want this," said Harry. He handed her a watch and a small bag. "It's a solar powered wrist watch. In the bag are the backup batteries for it."

"Thanks."

When Harry walked away from Leona, Chuck walked forward. He was the only one in the group besides Leona to have his hair permanently dyed a colour. He had his hair dyed orange which stuck out against his black trench coat. He handed Leona a pilot helmet and a pair of goggles. "Here just so you can look cool killing those monsters."

"Cool," said Leona.

Mike waited until the other two said good-bye to Leona and headed for the docks. At his feet was a large duffle bag. "Before my dad died of the virus he was a good hunter. He had a lucky gun and I figured to give you good luck, I'd give you this," he handed her the bag. "Inside is my Dad's hunting rifle and some ammo. Also in there is my house key and the key to my dad's gun locker for more ammo."

Leona was speechless so instead she gave him a hug. "That really rocks, thanks so much."

Mike turned red. "Don't mention it. I just hope it can help you." He ran off and joined the others.

During the quarantine, Anthony sat on his roof with his puppy. He was now a full-fledged Darkseeker. His skin was grey, all of his hair was gone and he could no longer stand the sun. "The one thing I don't mind about all this, my friend," said Anthony, "is I can see colour at night. What I want to know is when am I going to turn insane like those things on the street."

Shakespeare merely tilled his head slightly at him.

"Excuse me," called a female voice. It was coming from the fire escape.

He turned to see a woman in her forties. She was wearing a long monarch butterfly wings pattern dress. She was also a Darkseeker. "May I help you," Anthony asked her.

"Actually, I was hoping to help you," she said. "You may call me Madam Butterfly and I'm looking for people like us. So, would like to join me..."

"Anthony and this is my Great Dane puppy, Shakespeare," he said. "And sure we'll join you."

**Present Day**

Desmond woke up to the sound of cooking food. "I smell bacon." He got up and ran into the main house's kitchen.

"Good morning, Desmond," said Leona sitting at the kitchen table. "How did you sleep?"

"Better than I thought I would," said Desmond. "Do I smell bacon?"

Paul set a plate of bacon on the table. "That's because you do," he said. "To celebrate becoming a group. I decided to cook a real breakfast."

"What I would like to know, is where did you get the bacon," asked John.

"A wild pig that was wandering the city during the day," said Leona.

"To be precise," said Amanda. "I found it, Leona shot it."

"Details, details," said Paul setting down a plate of pancakes. "Let's just eat."


	18. Problem

Alucard's little sister: See first chapter, also I don't own the band the Mindless Self Indulgence.

Editor Cain: I like that last chapter.

Alucard's little sister: Well, now things are going to get good. And remember this is based on both the movie and the book (leans more on the movie then the book). So, I added something from the movie in this one.

Problem

"Hey, everybody, it's Leo, your favourite radio DJ," said the radio. "And I have some news."

Paul unlocked and opened the dishwasher. He peered inside and slammed the door shut. "What the hell, it didn't run! Why the hell didn't it run," he snapped.

"We have a winner for the Ironic hour...Joker! Yea," continued the radio."

"I don't know," said John "But I can't brush my teeth."

"The toilet won't fill," shouted Desmond.

"So, we now have a new hour and a new contest. It's called Heart-bonding hour," said the radio.

Amanda walked into the kitchen. There was a bucket of water in her hands. "I think the water is off," she said. "I started filling this with the hose outside and it stopped. I filled it up with the rain water buckets."

"If you can name the song _and_ the artist, you win a prize. And so, here is the first song. Enjoy."

Paul ran his hand through his hair. "Then something must have happened to the water plant."

_The bass, the rock_

_The mic, the treble_

_I like my coffee black_

_Just like my metal_

_The bass, the rock_

_The mic, the treble_

_I like my coffee black_

_Just like my metal_

_I can't wait for you to knock me up_

_In a minute, minute_

_In a fuckin' minute_

Paul walked into the living room and found Leona with big headphones on checking the weather satellite. He pulled the headphones off her head. "Did you brush your teeth and everything this morning?"

"Yes, except that the toilet only filled halfway before stopping. That was around 7 or 8'oclock this morning," she said. She handed him the headphones. "But check out what one of the satellites that we hacked picked up."

He put the headphones on and heard a voice. "My name is Robert Neville," it said. "I am a survivor living in New York City. I am broadcasting on all AM frequencies. I will be at the South Street Seaport everyday at mid-day, when the sun is highest in the sky. If you are out there... if anyone is out there... I can provide food, I can provide shelter, I can provide security. If there's anybody out there... anybody... please. You are not alone."

Paul took the headphones off. "Well, good luck to him," he said.

"I wonder who thought of doing the radio thing first. Him or us?"

"It doesn't matter. Human's are social things and need other people. It doesn't surprise me that someone else thought of using the radio to find people."

Leona sighed. "To bad we can't radio this Robert Neville guy and help him out."

"Um, I know this guy sounds interesting and all, but, I really would like the water turned back on," said Desmond. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"What you've never heard of that saying, if it's yellow..."

"It isn't yellow," he growled.

"TMI," said Leona.

Paul sighed. "Go anyway. I'm sure we can fix the problem before we run out of bathrooms."

Desmond ran off.

"Any way," said Paul handing the headphones back to Leona. "We'll split up. You go to the power plant. Make sure nothing happened there. I'll go to the water plant, make sure the problem is over there and not with us. Call me on the land-line phone at the power plant when you get there and tell me if there is anything going on there. Got it?"

"I'll take Desmond and Amanda with me," said Leona. "Take John and Ichigo with you and tell me if you see anything there."

"Right," Paul said. "I'll see you tonight." He snapped his fingers. "Bones, Ichigo come on." He walked out the door followed by John and Ichigo.

Desmond walked back into the room. "Wait, where the hell is Mad Hatter and Bones...and the dog?"

"They left," said Amanda. "We're going to."

"Let's go, I'm driving," said Leona. They got into the station wagon and drove deep into the city of London. Desmond was in the passenger seat and Amanda was in the back seat.

"Wait, so, let me get this straight," said Desmond. "Paul, John and Strawberry are checking why the water stopped working, I got that but what are we doing."

"We're making sure the Power Plant isn't the problem," said Leona. "Sometimes a grid can fry for no good reason and we need to make sure that's not true."

"Oh, ok," he said. "Does this thing happen often?"

"No," said Leona. "The last time this happened was four months ago...last year."

Amanda inched forward. "How is that possible," she asked.

Leona pulled into the parking lot of the Power Plant. "We're here."

"I'm staying in the car," said Amanda. "I'm going to just write a few things down."

Leona and Desmond walked to the power plant. "Just don't go in the grass. There are landmines under the grass."

"Landmines," cried John. He took a step back almost into Ichigo.

Paul smiled. "You bet. It stopped most Darkseekers from attacking the power plant and water works." He opened the door to the water plant. His jaw nearly dropped. "Holy crap..."

John came running over. He pulled a handgun out from the small of his back. "What is it? What's going on..." He lowered the gun. " Oh, my god, no way!"

Desmond looked at Leona. "This is strange," he threw his arm out pointing to the hallway. "It looks like someone cleaned this place two hours ago!"

The walls were a bright-white colour; the tile floors were shining from the overhead lights. Not a thing was rusty or out of place.

"Since the Darkseekers stopped attacking this place it's been easier to keep it clean," said Leona. "Come on let's go to the grid."

They walked down the hall into the main room. The grid took up one whole side of the room. Each light was a building that was using power. The larger the dot the bigger the building. Not all of the dots were on.

"Joker, get me the cheat sheet on the table over there," she said.

Desmond walked over to the opposite side of the room. He picked up a laminated sheet of paper and walked it over to Leona. "Here you go, Leo."

She took it from him and looked at all the lights on the grid then down to the sheet. She did this a few more times before pointing at one large light that was off. "There, I found the problem," she said. "The water sanitation plant has no power. Hang on." She walked over to wall next to the grid and picked up a red phone attached to the wall. She dialed a number and waited.

"Wait are...who..."

"Shhh!"

At the water plant, Paul, wearing a miner's helmet with a light, ran down the hall to the main office to a ringing phone. He picked it up. "I already know the power is out," he gasped.

"So, what's going on," asked Leona.

Paul caught his breath. "It's a shit storm. A whole bunch of Darkseekers found their way inside!"

Leona quickly pulled the phone away from her left ear and put her finger in her right ear. "Wow, angry." She put the phone back to her ear.

"One of them opened the main electric breaker and stuck its fingers deep into the socket," Paul snapped over the phone. "When it was electrified, it caught fire. The fire spread! Half of the inside of the building is horribly charred. The good thing is all of the Darkseekers that broke into the building burned up in the fire. The water sprinklers worked and stopped the fire from getting worse. But, the power is out! And, it will take pretty much all day to turn it back on, not to mention fixing the building up again. Aghhh!"

She pulled the phone away from her ear as he swore up a storm. She put the phone back to her ear after a few minutes of silence. "Is there anything we could do?"

Paul sighed. "No, just your team must go to the pub today. I'm going to work on fixing this shit up. How are things over there anyway."

"Just fine," she said nervously, "as Joker says it's like the cleaning crew came in and cleaned a few hours ago."

"Oh. I see."

"Anyway, I'm going to a store to pick up some goggles like mine for Joker and Macintosh. Would you like anything?"

"Get batteries. Lots of them."

"Ok, see you tonight." Leona hung up the phone. She walked over to the table and put the cheat sheet down. "Come on, Desmond."

"So, what's going on," he asked as he followed her down the hall. "What happened?"

"There was a fire and the power was shut off. He's going to get the water running again by tonight." She sighed. "However it looks like we will be building the Water plant back to normal for a while."

Leona got into the driver's side as Desmond got into the passenger's side. "But we can do it right," he asked.

"Oh, yeah, not a problem," said Leona.

Amanda looked up from a journal. "So, what's going on?"

Leona turned the car on. "Desmond you explain it, while I drive." She backed out of the parking spot and drove out of the parking lot. She drove a few miles away to a large outdoor store and parked in the parking lot.

The three of them got out of the car. "Ok," said Leona as she walked to the trunk of the station wagon. She opened it and started pulling out weapons and giving them to the others. "I don't know what is in there, so everyone must enter hot." She gave Amanda a hand gun and Desmond his knives. She grabbed a double-barreled shotgun. She loaded the gun. "You two ready?"

Desmond and Amanda both nodded and the three of them walked into the building.

The building was a mess. A little over half of the shelves were tipped over. Papers, baseball bats, baseballs, and other sports equipment were spread all over the floor. Some of the lights were off and hanging by their cords. There were no Darkseekers in the immediate area.

"Stay together, it's easier to escape if we are in the same area," said Leona.

They walked into the middle of the room to a kiosk with sunglasses in them. As Leona looked for goggles, Desmond looked around. He wandered out of the light and found a battery kiosk. He grabbed as many battery cases of different types as he could carry. He walked back to Leona and gave Amanda the double A, triple As and 9vs.

"Wait," Amanda whispered. "What about those C batteries you have there?"

He opened two cases of four C batteries. "I'm going to look for some flashlights," he said. "It will be easier to find goggles."

"Good idea," said Leona. "You look for flashlights. Amanda and I will look in the light for goggles. Good luck."

"You, too," said Desmond. He ran off into the dark. He put the batteries into his pocket. He unknowingly walked into the back room. Unlike the main shopping area, the shelves were up to the ceiling and still standing. There was nothing on the floor and only one light was on. He ran down one of the aisles looking for a box of flashlights.

Something ran into the same aisle as Desmond and ran right into him. Desmond fell onto the floor and so did what he ran into. A portable lantern and the batteries from Desmond's pockets fell between them.

"Sorr-" Desmond froze in mid-word when he looked at what he ran into.

It was a Darkseeker. It was wearing a green shirt that read: _Zombieway eat flesh_ and an sweatband that read _I heart Zombies_. It rubbed it head then looked at the batteries then at Desmond. It pointed to the batteries. "Do those still work," it asked.

Desmond was too stunned to speak for moment. He recovered. "Uh..I don't...really know..." he said finally.

The Darkseeker took all the batteries off the floor. "Thanks," he said. He picked up the lantern and handed to Desmond. "Here, Grimm, you can have this." He got up and started walking away. "And don't worry. I won't tell the other Darkseekers that you are here. Bye."

"Wait," cried Desmond. "Do you know where there might be some goggles?"

"Second floor with the bicycles," said the Darkseeker. He was gone.

Desmond got up. He took a look back, then ran back to Leona & Amanda. "How did it go," he asked the two of them.

Amanda had a pair of safety glasses on. "We found these but nothing else. How did you do?"

"I found a lantern," he said. He looked over at Leona who was digging though a fallen shelf. "Have you tried by the bicycles upstairs on the second floor?"

She shot up. "There's a second floor?" She got out of the shelf. She looked up and saw a faint outline of two escalators on the wall. "So there is." She grabbed his arm. "Let's go."

The three of them ran up the escalator. The second floor was worse than the first. Tents and other camping stuff were all over the floor. Fishing rods and hooks were also on the floor. There were only two lights that were on. Both on the other side of the room.

"Leona, I ran into a Darkseeker in the storage," said Desmond.

"Really, what happened? Did you kill it?"

"Uh, no, it was the strangest thing. All the batteries I had fell out of my pocket and it stole all of them and ran off."

"Battery."

He threw his hands up and the lantern swung away above his head. "That's what I just told you. It took all the C batteries I was going to use on flashlights if I found any and I found this. I was just lucky that it still works."

"No, I mean, that's it's name. Battery. I call it that because three weeks before John joined our group, the station wagon's battery died. I went and got a car battery. That's when I ran into him. I had to drop the battery to get my hunting rifle and when I dropped the battery it dove and stole my battery. Then it ran off, leaving me stunned and confused."

"Why do you call some of the Darkseekers names," asked Amanda as she moved a tent aside.

"Long story, I'll explain later," said Leona. "Anyway, my Dad still calls him Ironic because of the zombieway shirt."

"Freeze," cried Amanda.

Leona and Desmond stopped in mid-step, then looked at Amanda. "What," cried Leona. "Is there a Darkseeker around?"

"No, not that." Amanda bent down and pulled something under Leona foot and held it up. It was a pair of safety goggles. "You almost stepped on these and that would have been sad."

Leona shrugged. "Well, then I guess they're yours," she said.

Amanda handed the goggles over to Desmond. "Nah, I'll take these safety glasses. I don't want goggles. Plus I want to get out of here."

"I couldn't agree more," said Desmond.

Later that day, Leona and company came home to John and Paul arguing.

"It's your damn fault so it's your job to tell her," Paul snapped.

"B-b-but, she's your daughter," John cried. "I'm sure you can explain it better than I can."

Paul crossed his arms. "Again, your fault, your problem, your job to tell her."

Leona walked over to them. "Tell me what?"

John collapsed. "I...I lost Ichigo," he cried. "I was suppose to keep an eye on him, but. I got distracted and he ran after something. I tried to look for him all day but with no luck. An hour ago, Paul said to give it up and to look for the dog tomorrow."

Leona looked out the window. The sun was still out. She looked over at a Paul. "Permission to go find him," she asked bitterly.

Paul sat down on the couch. "If that's what you want to do, then go," he said. "Just take one of the high powered guns with you."

"Mad Hatter, I would like to go with Leon," said Desmond as Leona grabbed a semi-automatic military rifle from the closest.

"That's fine by me," said Leona.

The two of them left the house and went into the garage of the second house. Leona put on her pilot helmet and grabbed a motorcycle helmet. She tossed the helmet to Desmond. She then pulled a two person Moped out of the garage.

"We're going on that," he asked. "But, what about the cars."

"They're too loud," said Leona. "I'd take the Vibe but it's charging. So, this is the next best thing. Light, fast and quiet."

Desmond put the helmet on and got on the Moped. "Alright, then, let's go find Strawberry."

Leona got on the Moped and the two of them drove off to find the dog.


	19. MIA

Alucard's little sister: See first chapter. Also, I don't own the Shining (the movie).

Editor Cain: like the title, very short. Even though the chapter is very, very long.

MIA

Amanda was the first to wake up. She got ready for the day and walked down stairs to find Paul sleeping on the couch. She went over to Paul and took the garage door opener from him. She pushed the button to open the shutters.

The squealing metal did not wake Paul. "He must have gone to bed late," muttered Amanda.

John came down the stairs. "I think we need to oil those things," he muttered. "I thought my ears were going to start bleeding."

"We could do that while we wait for Leona and Desmond," said Amanda. She handed him a bowl of oatmeal. "For you."

"Thanks. By the way, what time is it?"

"9:35am," said Amanda. "And Paul is still sleeping..."

"No I'm not," muttered Paul.

They both turned around and looked at Paul standing in the doorway. He was wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday and the skin under his eyes was puffy from a lack of sleep. He sat down at the table and stole John's bowl. "Oh good breakfast."

John took the spoon out of his mouth. "B-b-b-but," he stammered. "That's mine?"

"Doesn't have your name on it," said Paul.

John quickly took the bowl back. He took the spoon out of his mouth and licked the oatmeal inside. "There, it had my tongue in it. What are you going to do about that!"

Paul sighed. "Oh, you're no fun anymore."

Amanda sighed and gave Paul a bowl of his own. "Here and stop stealing other people's food."

"And, just because the world's gone to hell doesn't mean I can't have any fun. Just remember all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Amanda crossed her arms. "And all play and no work makes Jack unemployed."

Paul took a breath as if he was going to say something then stopped. He did it again and stopped. "Forget it," he muttered. He went back to his breakfast.

"I think that means you've won," John whispered to Amanda.

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that I didn't get a lot of sleep," said Paul. I would hit you for that."

"Feel, the love."

Paul looked around, eyes darting left to right. "Did you hear that?"

"What," Amanda and John said at the same time.

"Shhh," he hissed.

Dead silence filled the room for several seconds before a low, sad whine came from the door to the backyard. It was followed by several seconds of scratching. When the scratching stopped, the whine came back even more desperate.

Paul got up and walked over to the door and opened it. "I should have known."

In front of the door was Ichigo, covered, from head to toe, in mud. As soon as Ichigo saw Paul, he wagged his tail and stuck his tongue out. "Arf, arf," Ichigo said happily. He started to turn his head.

Paul grabbed Ichigo's collar, stopping him from shacking. "Oh, no you don't, not in the kitchen," he snapped. He quickly dragged Ichigo into the bathroom. As soon as the door slammed, there was a scream. He opened the door and his head popped out covered in some mud. "I'm taking a shower with the dog. Meanwhile, you figure out what you're going to do today." He closed the door again.

John took a deep breath. "I'm worried about Leona and Desmond," he said. "I'm going to go wander around the city and see if I can find them."

Amanda nodded. "I'll stay here for now. There is something I want to ask Paul."

John nodded. "Ok, I'm going to go now," he said "I'll see you tonight." He walked out the door. He paused at the cars in the driveway. "Nah, I'll just walk." He started walking down the middle of the street, with no weapon, alone, wearing his lab, shirt and shorts. At the end of the street he stopped in an intersection. "Now, where did they go?"

"Woof!"

John jumped and turned to face where the sound came from. He relaxed when he saw who it was. "Shadow, it's great to see you," he cried. "Please, come over, I've missed you so much."

Shakespeare, the Great Dane, ran over to John. His tail wagging.

"Where do you think Leona and Desmond went?"

Shakespeare merely tilted his and sat down.

John sighed. "You're right, let's just pick a road and see if I find anything." He and Shakespeare went right onto the intersecting street and on their way.

Paul got out of the shower, got dressed, and got out of the bathroom with Ichigo in tow. He looked around the room. "Hey, where's Bones?"

"He went to go find Leona and Desmond," said Amanda as she checked the weather.

"And what are we doing?"

Amanda merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Do you know how to fire a weapon? Of any kind?"

She had to think about this for a moment. "Before I met you, I used to carry around an aluminium baseball bat. Also, I used to be an archery champion in college."

He walked over to the winter coat closet and pulled out a medium long box. He opened it and handed her a hunting bow. He reached to the back of the closet and pulled out a metal baseball bat. "Let's see how good you really are. Meet me at the police car." He got up and walked over to his room. "Arrows are in the garage," he shouted just before he closed his bedroom door.

Amanda slowly walked into the garage. She found the arrows on the shelf with cans of oil, anti-freeze, and windshield wiper fluid. She grabbed a bunch of arrows and waited by the car.

When Paul walked out of the house with two boxes, one longer than the other. He set the boxes down and used the car keys in his pocket. He unlocked the car, put the boxes in the trunk and then put the arrows and bow in the backseat. "Let's go, I'm driving," he said.

"Where to," she asked as she got in the passenger side.

"A hardware store. I need to get some WD-40. Due to the fact it rains, those damn metal shutters rust." He sat in the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition. First, they start to squeak like mice, then they scream like worn out breaks on a car and finally they stop moving all together."

"Umm, don't you want to put your seatbelt on before we go?"

"Seatbelts are for suckers and babies." He backed the police car out of the driveway and floored it.

Amanda's knuckles were white as she gripped the 'oh geese' bar. "Are you suicidal! Slow down! What if you hit something!"

"Then, I will go flying. It's best not to think about it. Besides I took military defensive driving and where else am I going to use something like this." He slammed on the brake with other foot and made a sharp, two-wheeled turn into a parking lot. He let go of the gas pedal while keeping his foot on the brake. He stopped the car right in front of the hardware store. "We're here." He looked over at her and a wicked grin spread across his face. He had a hard time trying not to laugh. "Your look! You look like someone who just got off the most horrifying rollercoaster."

"I did! That was insane! Does your daughter drive like that too?"

He took the keys out of the ignition. "Nope. She wants to though. I told her I'd teach her how to drive like that when she's 18. She still needs practice on civilian defensive driving."

She put her hand over her chest and tried to calm her pounding heart down. "I see."

He opened the trunk and pulled out his boxes. "Let me know when you're ready, I'll be in the hardware store."

"Who the hell is this guy," she muttered under her breath. She grabbed the bat and put it though her belt. "And what have I gotten myself into?" She grabbed her bow and arrows and went into the hardware store. "Tell me, how does a guy like you get military defensive driving skills," she asked as soon as she entered the building.

"Simple, the military hired the electric company I worked for to do some electrical wiring, right, so, one day the General asked me to play a game of poker," he explained as he opened the smaller square box. He pulled out a lightweight amp and pulled it into the wall. "Well, normally, or should I say a long time ago, I wouldn't gamble. That day, I was bored. I played and won several thousands dollars. In fact, not having that kind of money, we made a deal with me. He would train me in military driving." He opened the long box and pulled out a electric guitar. He plugged it into the amp with a buzz. "Alright, here's the plan, I play, you defend. Until either they are all gone or I finish the song, whichever comes first."

"...uh...ok," she said slowly. "I didn't know you played."

"Macintosh, the things you don't know about me could fill an encyclopedia."

"Don't you mean book?"

"Nope too much info for a book. Besides to tell you the truth I haven't played in 17 years." He started playing a random bunch of notes. Almost immediately a large group of Darkseekers came running from the back room.

"There's about twelve of them," said Amanda. She drew her bow.

"Less talking more killing," he reminded her.

The first arrow she let go hit one in the eye, killing it quickly. The next arrow got another in the throat, it fell to the ground and was trampled by the others. She pinned a few of the others to the ground to stop them from getting Paul. "I think you should move!"

"Nope, you're doing fine in not hitting me." He continued to play.

She kept shooting her arrows until all twelve were dead. The last arrow she shot grazed Paul's cheek and hit the Darkseeker in mouth.

He stopped playing and rubbed the blood off his face. "Ouch, nice touch though."

"Will you be ok?"

"Nothing a little Neosporin can't cure. By the way, you did a great job. Not once did you panic. That was an important part of the test, seeing if you would panic."

"Did you do this to John too?"

"Bones?" He laughed as he turned off the guitar and put away. "The only thing he's good for is making fun of. Oh and the fact that he's a doctor."

"How did he defend himself until now?"

Paul unplugged the amp and put it in the box. "He didn't defend himself. He stayed at the Paradise hotel until a while ago. While there he was defended by a sniper and a pyro."

"You mean you and your daughter?"

"No, I mean..." he stopped. "Never mind. I'll tell you later. Just remind me to get the picture from the station wagon."

"You mean the picture of him and his girlfriend? I gave that to him yesterday night while you were checking the weather on the computers."

"Oh, good, now I don't have to worry about that." He walked over to one of the shelves and grabbed a couple of cans of WD-40. "I'll be right back." He walked out of the store and to the police car. He put the WD-40 away and ran right into Betty as he turned around. "What the hell are you doing here," he hissed.

"Is that how you say hello to someone," she asked. She was dressed in a new Hello Kitty shirt, jeans with Hello Kitty patches, pink converse shoes and Hello Kitty earrings. "The reason why I'm here because Madam Butterfly sent me, plus I was wondering what you were doing. Nice cop car, Mad Hatter, next you need a police uniform."

"I don't have much time so make it quick," he snapped.

Betty took a step back. "Geez, sorry. Madam Butterfly wants to know if you told them about the-"

He covered her mouth with his hand. "No, I haven't told them a damn thing. I'll tell them, just not right now. I'm busy."

"Putting it off will only lead to trouble," she said. She gave him hug and ran off before Amanda came outside with Paul's guitar and amp.

"Do you think that Leo and Joker are back home by now," Amanda asked.

Paul sighed. "Either that or they're at the pub. It's noon."

Amanda headed back into the store. "Well, let's go there first, I'll be right back."

He put his things in the trunk. "Putting it off will only lead to trouble," he mocked. "I don't think they need to know anything." He slammed the trunk. "Stop bugging me."

Amanda came back with her bow. "Should I go get the arrows too?"

He put on a smile. "No, leave them there. We have plenty of arrows. We use to just use them for practice." He got in the car and turned it on. "Now let's go."

Meanwhile, John continued down the street with Shakespeare by his side. "Any sign of them yet boy," he asked the dog.

Shakespeare walked ahead for moment. He sniffed the ground for a few minutes then stiffened. The fur on his back started to stand on end. He bared his teeth.

"What is it?" John ran closer to where the dog was standing.

In the middle of the road was a burned up corpse in a baseball uniform. It was obvious that the thing was shot in the head. Shakespeare continued to growl at the dead body as John bent down and got a closer look. He covered his nose and mouth with his shirt. With his free hand, he lifted the baseball jersey. The skin that was covered with the shirt was not burned. He lifted the shirt a little higher and discovered an old worn out bra. He dropped the shirt and looked over at Shakespeare. "We need to go tell Paul about this." He quickly left the body to the circling vultures.

In the pub, Paul raided the liquor cabinet. "Do you want anything, Macintosh?"

Amanda shook her head. "I don't drink" She put her bow, arrows and baseball bat on a bench. "There is something I want to ask you."

"What's on your mind?"

"Your wife, you said she was a chemist. So what kind of job did she have?"

Paul walked out from behind the bar with a bottle brandy and a glass. "She was a pharmacist," he said pouring himself a glass of brandy. "She was also a nurse during the war. During the months before everyone moved to colonies she worked with a bunch of others to find a cure for this virus...thing. When the quarantine was issued the scientist and doctors working on the cure left first and are probably still working on finding a cure for this." He took a sip.

"So, your wife is in Finland and you're here," she questioned.

He put his glass down. "No, she didn't leave with them."

"She's still here working?"

"No." He took another sip. "She's dead."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was she killed by the virus itself or a Darkseeker she was trying to cure?"

"Neither. It was me."

She flinched. There was an award pause that settled between them for a minute. "You-you killed your wife?"

"Yes." He pulled out his gun. "With this." He put his hand up. "I know what you're going to ask, I have ESP. Why? Why do something like that to someone you love. Easy, because ironically, she turned into a Darkseeker and I didn't want her to be one and I felt it was easier just to shoot her and be over with it. And no, I don't think that there's a cure for this."

Amanda sat down. "But it sounds so wrong. Does Leona know what you've done to her mom?"

He shrugged. "I don't know if she knows or not and I don't really care. That kind of information is not important to survival. But if you feel like it is important for her to know, then by all means tell her when she gets back. And just think about it for a second, would you rather kill your 'husband' quickly and not have to worry about it or let 'him' wander the city all crazy like until you can't kill 'him' and 'he' in turn kills you."

Amanda opened her mouth and stopped. The pause reappeared for a couple of minutes. She sighed. "I guess you're right."

Paul was going to say something when John burst though the front door with Shakespeare.

"I found a dead Darkseeker," he cried.

As if to confirm, this Shakespeare said, "woof."

"Where was this Darkseeker and what was it wearing," asked Paul.

"It was two blocks from here and a block away from the university. It was a female but why do you want to.."

"Just tell me what it was wearing," Paul snapped.

John jumped back. "It was wearing a baseball jersey."

"Ahh, it was Pitcher."

"Pitcher," Amanda and John at the same time.

"Pitcher, threw things at people. In fact, she could knock you out with a pebble. I thought it was very hard to kill Pitcher. So, it must have been either Leo or Joker."

"So, that's a good thing," asked John. "That could mean they're still alive."

"Or they're dead," said Paul.

"Don't say that," cried Amanda. "What makes you think that they're dead."

"John said he found only one dead body. If there was more than one body then I would think that they were alive."

"I hope they're still alive," said Amanda.


	20. Butterflies

Alucard's little sister: see first chapter.

Editor Cain: the gaps between chapter updates has gotten bigger...or is it just me.

Alucard's little sister: None, they are bigger but the chapters are also longer.

Butterflies

Amanda was dead. Her body was in the kitchen, torn to pieces by several Darkseekers.

John was dead. His body was sprawled out on the stairs, head crushed underfoot of Cigarette.

Ichigo and Momo were dead. The poor pup was eaten by Shotgun, another Darkseeker. The poor kitten was also eaten but by another Darkseeker.

Leona was dead. Her body was dragged off by Bullet.

Desmond was dead. His head was in one room while his body was in the mini-hospital. Killed by a Darkseeker who used his weapon against him.

Blood was everywhere Paul stepped. There was nothing left. The house was trashed and everyone was dead.

Paul ran though the kitchen outside. He turned around and looked at the wreckage of a house. The shutters lay on the ground, the roof was gone and there were holes in the wall. He turned and ran into a woman.

She looked like she was in her forties. Her hair was gone and her skin was the same as a Darkseeker. She was wearing a long, flowing dress that was the pattern of a monarch butterfly's wings.

"Madam Butterfly," Paul cried. "What are you doing here."

She shook her head slowly. "Ah, Paul, it's sad that you don't know," she said. "You failed in your end of the bargain." She took his gun and pointed it at him. "Since you've failed, I'm afraid I have no reason to keep you alive." She pulled the trigger...

Paul awoke with a start. Without disturbing Momo, sleeping at the end of the bed, Paul ran into the bathroom and threw up. He brushed his teeth and sighed. "Damn it," he growled. He ran his hand over his face and looked at the time. "5:20am. I need to go find them."

When John woke up, he was surprised to see Paul dressed for war. A sword on his belt, his .45, and AK-47 on his back, sniper rifle and a satchel filled with bullets. "What's going on," cried John. "What's with all the weapons?"

"I'm starting World War 3, didn't you know," Paul said. "No, I'm going to go find them."

"I'm in," said Amanda walking down the stairs. "Four eyes are better than two when it comes to looking for someone. Just let me get my bat and arrows." She ran back up the stairs.

"Bones," said Paul in a very serious tone. "I want you to stay here."

"WHAT," cried John. "But why, you need me. What if you get hurt or something."

Paul walked over to Ichigo and petted him. "I need someone to take care of the pets...and Amanda should come home to someone. You two should stick together. Besides you're..."

John grabbed Paul's shoulder. "Are you feeling okay," he asked.

Paul pulled John's hand off his shoulder. "I'm fine," he said darkly. "It's just I have a feeling I'm not coming back from this."

A worried looked spread across John's face. Before he could say anything, Amanda came down the stairs.

"Let's go, Mad Hatter," she said. "Leo and Joker could be seriously injured."

Paul rubbed the top of John's head. "Have fun with Ichigo and Momo."

When the two of them left, John ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit," he said. He looked over at Momo sitting on the couch. "Do you know what's going on with Paul?"

Momo tilted her head to right and let out a "mew".

Ichigo barked. He got up and walked over to the door to Paul's room. He scratched the door then looked over at John.

John walked over. "You know I don't think you are supposed to go in there." He tried to turn the doorknob but it was locked. There was no keyhole, instead there was just a small hole in the middle of the knob. He ran into the kitchen, got a tooth pick and came back. "The easiest lock to break," he said. "Call me useless will he." He jammed the toothpick into the hole of the doorknob and the door unlocked. He pushed the door open. He took the toothpick out and turned the knob on the other side of the door to unlocks the knob. "There you go, Ichigo."

Ichigo pushed past John and grabbed a large push rabbit. He carried it out of the room with it in his mouth.

John looked around the room. There was a twin size bed, a dresser, and a desk. On the desk there was a computer with a camera on the monitor. "Why would he have that?"

He turned the computer on. The computer screen displayed a prompt asking for a password for the user Mad Hatter. "He doesn't even use his real name," he muttered. He looked around. There was no one there. No one to stop him for logging in to the computer. He typed.

**PASSWORD: CheshireCat**

That was incorrect. He tried again.

**PASSWORD: Leothelion**

Incorrect. The hint showed up. The hint was Fallout 3. "He's good. That's good, too vague for me." He shook his head. "No, I'll just try two more times. If I don't get it I'll leave."

**PASSWORD:** **M3gat0n**

Incorrect. He took a deep breath. "One last try."

**PASSWORD: CapitalWasteland**

**Welcome Mad Hatter**

"Yes," he said as the main screen came up. "Now let's see what Paul is hiding from us."

He looked around and clicked on documents. Nothing. He looked though the pictures. Nothing. "What did he use this computer for?" He skipped the music file and clicked on Videos. There were several folders each numbered by year. He clicked the first file in the first folder.

On the screen, a young 17-year-old Paul Artmen appeared. He looked like he was in a military tent. He was wearing a military uniform that had a patch that read 'Priv. Contract.' And a patch below that read 'Elec. Artmen'. Paul sighed. He turned and looked at a guy in the background reading a newspaper. "Do I really have to do this? I mean I'm not a part of your Army I'm just here to keep the power going."

"I don't care," said the man. "It's a good habit to get into in case something happens to you. I'm sure your parents would want to know what happened in your voice and not some General."

Paul rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He looked back at the camera. "My name is Paul Artmen. To get a job at the London Electric company, I agreed to their new contract with the military to keep the power running during the war. I would feel better if they let me defend myself with a gun!"

The guy in the background didn't look away from his newspaper. "Not happening kid."

The video file was over and it went back to the folder. John went back to the video file and clicked on the folder that was the for current year. He was surprised to see today's date on one of the files. He clicked on it.

Once again Paul showed up on the screen. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's 5:30 am, I'm awake and no one else is. Once again I had a very vivid dream. So, bad in fact that I was just in the bathroom throwing up. Last time something like this happened I almost died. I have a feeling that it meant something and maybe I'm just missing the importance of it. Oh, March Hare, dear, sometimes I wish I didn't have to kill you. You were always good at analyzing dreams." Momo jumped onto the table and walked past the monitor. "I see you're awake Momo and I take it you want food too." He picked the cat up and set her on the floor. "Anyway, I'm going to go find Leo and Joker. If I don't come back then I was right about my dream. If anyone is watching this. I regret nothing." The video ended.

John stared at the screen for a moment before turning it off. He picked up a picture that was laying on the floor. It was a Halloween contest. Nineteen year old Paul was dressed as the Mad Hatter and there was a woman next to him dressed as the March Hare. He flipped it over and written on the back was 'Paul and Julia at the party'.

"That woman must be the March Hare," John said. He put the picture down on the table. He locked the door and closed it.

That's when there was a knock on the front door. With a puzzled, look John walked over and opened the door.

It was a woman with pink hair and purple eyes. She was wearing a shirt that said 'Think Pink' and jeans. She smiled at him. "Hi, how are you?"

"Fine," he said after a few minutes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Betty Hughes," she said. "Can I come in?" She walked in before he could say anything. "So, where is Paul. I need to tell him something."

"He left to go find Leona," He said. "Leona left to go find Ichigo and Ichigo came back but she did not. Paul decided to go find her."

"I see," she said. "It's good to see you again."

"Again?"

"Never mind," she said quickly. "Say, why don't you go after them. I'll stay here and watch the pets. I'm sure they will need a doctor."

"Thanks." He walked to the door and stopped. "Wait, how did you know that I'm a doctor. I'm not wearing my lab coat or anything."

"Don't worry about that now," she said quickly. "Just go." When he left, she sighed and looked over at Ichigo. "That was close. Though maybe Paul told him that my job was to make sure that he was safe from the Darkseekers."

Ichigo ignored her and chewed the bunny.

Amanda and Paul found the body that John talked about. There were vultures and ravens picking the dead body. Paul scared them away and lifted the shirt. The skin protected by the shirt began to sizzle and burn. He dropped the shirt and looked over at Amanda. "Yep, that was Pitcher." He stood up. "Do you see anything else?"

"Yes," said Amanda. "How about a Vespa?" She pointed over to a space between two buildings.

Paul looked over. Crashed into the corner of one of buildings was a red Moped. He walked over to the thing and began to slowly pull it away from the wall.

"Would you like any help," asked John.

Amanda jumped. "John when did you get here? And what about Ichigo and Momo?"

"Don't worry about them, some pink-haired girl named Betty came over. She said she knew Paul and agreed to watch the house while we looked for Leona."

Paul nearly dropped the Moped. "You didn't tell her anything did you," he asked. He picked up the Moped and continue to pull it to the centre of the road.

"If you mean me telling her that we found her younger brother Desmond then, no, I told her nothing. I figured you wanted to tell her," said John. "By the way, did you notice the tire tread marks on the road?"

Paul dropped the Moped. "Shit, it's our Moped. That must mean that Leo and Joker were here at one point. This could either mean that they had to ditch the Moped and find a place to stay or...they're dead."

"I hope they're not dead," said Amanda. "So, where do we go from here?"

Paul nudged John. "So, Bones, how could you tell that they are related you know, Cheshire Cat and Joker."

He waved his hand. "It was their personality. They were so much alike," he said sarcastically. "No, it was the fact that they had changed their hair and eye colour. It was also the bone structure. They both have the same basic shape."

The three of them slowly walked down the street. Occasionally calling out Leona and Desmond's names. As they got closer and closer to the University, the sun got lower in the sky.

They took a breather in front of the science building. "I would check the nurse's office," said John. "That would be the first place I would go if we were injured."

"That's a good idea," said Amanda. She turned around facing the other side of the street and gasped. "Guys, I think we're in trouble."

On the other side of the street, in the shade of the buildings were hundreds of Darkseekers. Drool, blood and worn clothes hung from them. The only thing keeping them at bay was a thin line of sun.

John grabbed Amanda's bat from her belt as she grabbed her bow and arrows. "Paul, what should we do? What's the plan to take out these monsters."

Paul sighed. He walked over to the window. "Nothing," he said making them both look from the horde to him then back.

"I think he's gone suicidal," John whispered to Amanda.

"He is acting strange," agreed Amanda.

Paul knocked on the window. He mouthed 'three' to a shadow in the window. A second later the window opened. "Let's go you two!"

Amanda turned around, grabbed John and ran over to the building jumping in the window.

The first thing the two of them saw was someone that looked like a Darkseeker. He had grey skin, no hair and red eyes. He was wearing a camo suit and combat boots. He picked up a high powered sniper rifle, aimed it outside the opened window and fired. The bullet hit a Darkseeker in the head. It fell and the horde scattered. He leaned the sniper rifle against the wall and closed the window. "Stupid things," he said making John and Amanda jump. "They'll be back. Once a leader shows up. Good to see you again, Paul. I take it these are new people. Hi." He cracked his knuckles. "I'd love to keep talking but I have a horde to watch." He went back to looking out the window.

"Follow me," Paul said. They followed him out of the room.

"What is going on," said John. "Who or what was that?"

Paul sighed. "He is the guard dog. I..."

That's when Anthony pounced on him. "Hey, Mad Hatter, I didn't think that you would come. I just sent Betty to go and get you." He looked over at John and Amanda. "I didn't think you would bring these two with you. Bold move."

Paul pushed him off. "I'm just glad you're not wearing chain-mail like you normally do. By the way, I have no idea what you're talking about."

The air raid siren went off in the background. Anthony rubbed his bald head. "Madam Butterfly wants an audience with you. She didn't say why, she just said that she needed to talk to you. And, it is important, so you can't blow this one off."

"Wait! What? You're in league with the Butterfly group," cried John. "Let me guess, you're going to feed us to them so that you don't get attacked or maybe even get protection from them right?"

Amanda gasped. "Is this true?"

Paul and Anthony looked at each other. "I think your friends watch too many horror movies," said Anthony. "I take you haven't told them the deal."

"No," said Paul.

"While I go tell Madam Butterfly you're here, you should tell them. Otherwise you'll be in deep shit." He walked away.

John and Amanda gave Paul a dark look. "So are you going to tell us what is going on, Mad Hatter," growled Amanda.

"It's now or never," said John.

Paul sighed. He sat down in the middle of the hallway. "Ok, fine, I'll tell you. It's long and a bit painful but, whatever." He waited until John and Amanda sat down before he began.


End file.
